Department for Transport

Bus Services: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has he made of the effect of real terms funding reductions to North East bus services on the provision of those services.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 26 February 2020



Announced on February 2020, there is £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London. This package of investment will boost bus services by focusing on a range of priorities, set to include: higher frequency services, new priority schemes will make routes more efficient, more affordable simpler fares and at least 4,000 new Zero Emission Buses. In addition, the Department for Transport provides £250m of support to local authorities and bus operators via Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG). In October 2019, the Government committed to review how BSOG is paid to ensure it supports the environment and improved passenger journeys.In October 2019, the Government published A Better Deal for Bus Users, which sets out the Government’s plans for buses, including providing local authorities with an additional £30m of funding in 2020/21 and publishing a National Bus Strategy. In 2018/19, bus operators received around £2.1bn of support from the public sector, with around £1bn of funding for older and disabled people’s concessions and £850m of subsidy for socially necessary services provided by local authorities and funded via MHCLG’s Revenue Support Grant.

Bus Services: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to increase funding for bus services in (a) Newcastle and (b) the North East.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 26 February 2020



The £220 million Better Deal for Bus Users package provides new funding to transform bus services and includes a National Bus Strategy, which together will detail measures to improve bus services.www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-better-deal-for-bus-users/a-better-deal-for-bus-usersThis includes an extra £30 million for local authorities in 2020/21.If the North East Joint Transport Committee (responsible for public transport policy in Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland) complete statements of intent demonstrating how they will meet the funding requirements, they will be provided with the additional allocation of £1,454,485.In addition, there is £5 billion of new funding to overhaul bus and cycle links for every region outside London. This package of investment will boost bus services by focusing on a range of priorities, set to include: higher frequency services, new priority schemes will make routes more efficient, more affordable simpler fares and at least 4,000 new Zero Emission Buses.

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the commercial helicopters currently contracted to provide passenger transport in the North Sea oil and gas sector have been upgraded to comply with the recommendations issued to that industry by the Civil Aviation Authority in 2014.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is committed to making North Sea helicopter flying as safe as possible and the CAA’s Safety review of offshore public transport helicopter operations in support of the exploitation of oil and gas resulted in wide ranging recommendations and actions to improve offshore helicopter safety standards. A number of these recommendations and actions related to the certification of new helicopter designs, which is the responsibility of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). None of the recommendations specifically required existing helicopters to be upgraded. One action from the safety review tasked the CAA to promote and support the implementation of the results of research into helicopter terrain awareness warning systems. This led to some helicopters being retrofitted in 2019, so that existing equipment specifically offers warnings for the offshore operating environment. This work is ongoing.

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the Civil Aviation Authority’s CAP 1877 Progress Report on the recommendations in CAP 1145 Safety Review of offshore public transport helicopter operations in support of the exploitation of oil and gas.

Kelly Tolhurst: The CAA published a comprehensive review into offshore helicopter safety in 2014, which put forward recommendations and actions to helicopter operators and the oil and gas industry. These have led to the introduction of a number of significant measures to increase the safety standards of offshore helicopter flights. The changes were welcomed by both the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and the British Airline Pilots Association. No recommendations were made for the Department in this report. However, the CAA and the Department will continue to monitor the safety of helicopter operations.

Network Rail: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding was allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 6.

Chris Heaton-Harris: £47.9bn of funding was allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 6 in the Government’s Statement of Funds Available for England and Wales, of which £34.7bn is supported by Government Grant. £4.85bn of funding was allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 6 in the Statement of Funds Available for Scotland, of which £2.2bn is supported by Grant.

Network Rail: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the funding allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 6 is allocated to (a) maintenance of existing infrastructure, (b) renewal of existing infrastructure and (c) enhancements and new projects.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In Control Period 6, Network Rail plans to spend:£9bn on maintenance of existing infrastructure£18.5bn on renewals of existing infrastructure£11.4bn on enhancements and new projectsIn addition to these areas of expenditure, funding is also allocated to the day to day operation of the network, business rates, industry costs and other business support costs.

Network Rail: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the funding allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 6 has been spent.

Chris Heaton-Harris: As of 1st February 2020, Network Rail has spent £7.2bn in Control Period 6.

Network Rail: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the funding allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 5 was spent on (a) maintenance of existing infrastructure, (b) renewals of existing infrastructure and (c) enhancements and new projects.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In Control Period 5, Network Rail spent:£6.658bn on maintenance of existing infrastructure£14.295bn on renewals of existing infrastructure£16.025bn on enhancements and new projects In Control Period 5, Network Rail’s spending was funded through a combination of government loans and grants; charges paid by train operators; and income from other sources such as property. It is not possible to separately identify how much of each funding source was spent across Network Rail’s specific activities.

Network Rail: Finance

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the funding allocated to Network Rail for Control Period 5 was unspent.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In Control Period 5, Network Rail received funding from Government through a combination of loans and grants. All of this funding was spent.

Merchant Shipping: Recruitment

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Wallem Ship Management has been listed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as an approved recruitment and placement agency, in line with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Recruitment and Placement) Regulations 2014.

Kelly Tolhurst: Approval of recruitment & placement agencies is the responsibility of the State in whose territory the agency is located. Wallem Ship Management is not located in the UK; hence they are not approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Shipping: Energy Supply

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of shore-side power for sea-going ships in the UK.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department undertook an assessment in early 2019 of the options to reduce emissions from shipping, including the use of shore-side power during the development of the Clean Maritime Plan. This assessment considered both opportunities for shore-side power and the implications for the UK Energy System. This research has been published on Gov.UK.

Buses

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether bus operators are required to (a) report accidents and (b) adopt confidential reporting systems under the public service vehicle operator licensing system; and whether he plans to amend that system in relation to bus safety.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 26 February 2020



It is a legislative duty for the holder of a public service vehicle operator’s licence to report to the Secretary of State as soon as is practicable, any failure or damage of a nature calculated to affect the safety of occupants of the public service vehicle or of persons using the road incurred by a public service vehicle owned by the holder. There is also a statutory requirement for road traffic incidents on public roads involving injury to be reported to the police. This is not specific to public service vehicles. The Government has no plans to require public service vehicle operators to adopt a confidential reporting system.

High Speed Two: Publications

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish unredacted versions of the papers of the audit and risk assurance committee of HS2 Ltd.

Andrew Stephenson: It is important that HS2 Ltd has the space to discuss robustly and frankly the HS2 programme. HS2 Ltd publishes the minutes of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (and the minutes of the HS2 Board) to provide transparency around the decision-making process while maintaining necessary levels of confidentiality to allow frank and robust discussion. Representatives from the National Audit Office attend HS2’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. It is chaired by a Non-Executive Director of the HS2 Board.

Driverless Vehicles

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend the scope of existing legislation on driving prohibitions to include principal occupants in autonomous vehicles.

Rachel Maclean: The Government recognises that self-driving (sometimes referred to as autonomous) vehicles will challenge existing driving legislation, which was not designed with them in mind. This is why the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles has asked the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (the Law Commissions) to conduct a three-year review of driving legislation to prepare for the introduction of self-driving vehicles on UK roads, which includes extensive public consultation. The Government is considering what legislative changes will be required to ensure the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles, informed by the Law Commissions’ project, which is due to complete in 2021.

Parking Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued within different local authority areas.

Kelly Tolhurst: Local authorities are responsible for issuing Penalty Charge Notices in their area and the Department for Transport does not hold information on the number that are issued by different local authorities.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2020 to Question 12401 on Cycling and Walking: Infrastructure, how much (a) ringfenced and (b) non-ringfenced funds were invested in (i) cycling and (ii) walking in each financial year from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Chris Heaton-Harris: A total of around £1.2 billion was invested in cycling and walking over those three years, with roughly a quarter of this ring-fenced and three quarters non-ring-fenced. Details of this investment, including a year by year breakdown, were published on 7th February alongside the first report to Parliament on progress made towards delivering the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). Most of the investment benefits both cycling and walking, although some initiatives are focused more on one than on the other: further details are provided in the report.

Bus Services and Cycling: Finance

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2020 to Question 12402 on Cycling and Walking: Infrastructure, how much (a)  ringfenced and (b) non-ringfenced funding he plans to allocate for (a) cycling and (b) buses in each of the next five years.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Further details on all of these matters will be provided as part of the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on how many migrant workers from each of the standard occupational classifications in the shortage occupation list will be required to complete High Speed Two.

Andrew Stephenson: As part of its comprehensive Skills, Employment and Education strategy, HS2 Ltd has undertaken detailed labour and skills demand and supply forecasting and analysis (https://assets.hs2.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/13145027/CS1006-HS2-labour-and-skills-demand-and-supply-forecasting-and-analysis.pdf ) which is designed to ensure the project’s skills needs are met and that it leaves a positive employment legacy across the whole of the UK.  This work does not include an analysis of how many migrant workers from each of the standard occupational classifications in the shortage occupation list will be required to complete High Speed Two.

Rail Review

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is for the publication of the Williams Rail Review.

Grant Shapps: A White Paper based on the Williams Rail Review’s recommendations will be published in due course.

Bus Services

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is for the publication of the National Bus Strategy; and whether he plans to hold a consultation on that strategy before it is implemented.

Kelly Tolhurst: We intend to publish the strategy later this year and are currently developing our plans how best to proceed.

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 13504 on Agricultural Machinery: Exhaust Emissions, how many companies registered in Wales have registered for the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation scheme.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 13504 on Agricultural Machinery: Exhaust Emissions, what steps his Department is taking to extend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation scheme in Wales.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the domestic production of biofuels.

Rachel Maclean: The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has been successful in promoting a market for sustainable renewable fuels. Long term targets set in legislation have given companies the confidence to invest in Wales and across the UK. Companies that supply at least 450,000 litres of fossil fuels are obligated to supply a certain amount of renewable fuel under the RTFO. Companies can also register voluntarily to be able to receive RTFO certificates. Currently, there are 50 UK registered suppliers, with one supplier having a registered address in Wales. The Department is encouraging further investment in renewable fuels in the UK through its multimillion pound innovation competitions. Competitively awarded grants have been provided to support the construction of several commercial-scale plants in the UK. This includes the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (F4C) which was launched in 2017 and makes up to £20 million in capital funding available. Among the shortlisted projects of the competition, one of the companies is looking to locate in Wales.

M20: Maidstone

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received representations from Maidstone Borough Council on a proposed new Junction 8A on the M20; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department has not received any representations from Maidstone Borough Council on this topic.

Motorways

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria is required to be met for him to grant permission for the building of a new motorway junction.

Kelly Tolhurst: Paragraphs 37 to 44 of the Department’s Circular 02/2013, Strategic road network and the delivery of sustainable development, set out how proposals for the creation of new junctions or access to the strategic road network (including motorways) will be considered.

Walking

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding is available from his Department to support local authority schemes on walking.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The detail of the funding that has been made available to local authorities and other organisations to support walking projects are set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Report to Parliament, published on 07 February 2020. The schemes that the Department has funded include projects to encourage walking to school, as well as improvements to infrastructure and the public realm to support walking in general. Further details will be announced at the Budget and Spending Review of the new funding for cycling and walking that was announced by the Prime Minister on 11 February 2020.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Registration of Overseas Entities Bill (Draft)

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for introducing the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill.

Paul Scully: The Registration of Overseas Entities Bill has undergone Pre-Legislative Scrutiny by a joint parliamentary committee. The final Bill will reflect many of the committee’s recommendations to ensure that the legislation is as effective as possible in tackling the use of UK property for money laundering. The Bill will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

Companies: Disclosure of Information

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation on corporate transparency and register reform.

Paul Scully: The Corporate Transparency and Register Reform Consultation was launched on the 5th May 2019 and closed on the 5th August 2019. It received a significant number of responses. The Government plans to publish the response in due course.

Coal Fired Power Stations: Carbon Capture and Storage

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on CO2 emissions of lowering the 300MW rating threshold above which combustion based power stations are required to demonstrate that they are carbon capture ready.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government consulted on the appropriate threshold for carbon capture readiness in 2008. Following this consultation, the 300MW threshold as required in the Carbon Capture Storage Directive was adopted in legislation.

Renewable Energy: North of England

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what steps his Department is taking to encourage the expansion of the renewable energy industry in the north of England.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Through Government policies we have dramatically increased the deployment of renewable generation. Renewable electricity now makes up over a third of our generation and our renewable capacity has quadrupled since 2010. 24% of the UK’s renewable capacity is located in the North of England. The Government’s manifesto set out an ambition to further expand offshore wind to reach 40GW of capacity by 2030, and we will continue to work with the offshore wind industry to deliver the ambition for 60% UK content in offshore wind farms, as agreed in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal. New wind farms being built off the North East coast, such as the Dogger Bank and Sophia projects, will provide a huge economic opportunity for the north east of England, delivering 5GW of new renewable energy; enough to power over 5 million homes. UK companies such as Tekmar, JDR Cables and Seajacks, all based in the North of England, are not only supplying UK renewable projects, but winning export contracts abroad. We are also helping to develop renewable heat network infrastructure across the North. For example, on 3 February, the Coal Authority announced the construction of the UK’s first heat network to take renewable heat from mine water in County Durham.

Multinational Companies: Carbon Emissions

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with multi-national corporations on their role in reducing carbon emissions.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We are committed to delivering on our world-leading target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. The UK was the first major economy to legislate for a net zero target, which will end our contribution to climate change. With our expert scientists, business leaders and innovators, the UK has already excelled at cutting emissions while creating wealth and we will continue to engage with domestic and international businesses of all sizes to look at opportunities to reduce their carbon emissions and also invest in and develop low carbon technologies, services and systems.

Copyright: EU Law

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6620, Copyright: EU Law, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals equivalent to the (a) transparency obligations, (b) contract adjustment mechanisms and (c) right of revocation in the EU Copyright Directive.

Amanda Solloway: The UK has one of the best intellectual property copyright frameworks in the world and the Government remains committed to high standards of copyright protection. The UK copyright framework will continue to provide proper rewards for creators, while considering the needs of consumers and ensuring a thriving digital economy. If, in the future, evidence demonstrates that the current framework is not effective, the Government will consider action to address this. As a result of the UK leaving the EU, the Government will not be required to implement the Directive. The Government plans to assess our options as part of our domestic policy process.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department defines rurality.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Rural Urban Classification is an Official Statistic used to distinguish rural and urban areas. The Classification defines areas as rural if they are outside settlements with more than 10,000 resident population. Wherever possible, the Rural Urban Classification should be used for statistical analysis. Further details can be found at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ gov.uk page at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/rural-urban-classification.

Post Office: Fraud

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps Post Office Ltd is taking to identify former subpostmasters that repaid monies in relation to unproven allegations of financial discrepancies.

Paul Scully: Post Office Limited will announce a scheme in the near future which will address historic shortfalls for postmasters who were not part of the Group Litigation. Post Office Limited are actively considering how best to reach all relevant postmasters both past and present as part of this process.

Heating: Hydrogen

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the domestic heating industry on the future role of hydrogen as a heating fuel.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Replacing natural gas in the gas grid with hydrogen may be an option which could contribute to decarbonising heat, along with other options including heat networks, electric heat pumps and biogas. The Government’s December 2018 report on Clean Growth: Transforming Heating concluded that there is currently no clear consensus on the best approach to decarbonising heat at scale and that further work is required on the hydrogen option to prove the safety and feasibility case and to better understand the costs and benefits. The Department is working with the gas and heating industries, including representatives of the domestic heating sector, to ensure that all the R&D, testing and trialling work required to achieve this has been identified. The Government is also spending up to £121m on hydrogen innovation, including £25m on the Hy4Heat programme which is investigating whether it is technically possible to replace methane with hydrogen in residential and commercial buildings and gas appliances.

Pay

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, further to the Answer of 16 January 2020 to Question 2530, on Pay, if he will publish data on the minimum wage (a) arrears and (b) penalties issued in each constituency in each of the last six financial years.

Paul Scully: The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who fail to pay the NMW. HMRC follows up on every worker complaint it receives, even those which are anonymous. The Government publishes a regional breakdown of National Minimum Wage enforcement activity, including arrears and penalties, as part of the annual Enforcement and Compliance Report. The most recent report can be found here. Caution is required when analysing Minimum Wage enforcement by geography. Enforcement data is reported based on employers’ details, not workers’. This means HMRC may identify arrears for workers who live outside of the immediate area where their employer is based. Similarly, for large employers, arrears and penalties may be attributed to a specific head office location.

Mining: Floods

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Coal Authority has to tackle (a) landslides on and (b) the flooding of former coal sites.

Kwasi Kwarteng: As part of its statutory responsibilities the Coal Authority, one of the Department’s Partner Organisations, has regular contact with Local Authorities in former coal field areas on a range of issues relating to liabilities arising from former coal workings. Following the recent floods, the Coal Authority will be writing to all Local Authorities to remind them of their responsibilities in relation to the management and oversight of coal sites, offering support and advice where required. The Coal Authority are already working with the Wales Office, the Welsh Assembly Government, Local Authorities and Natural Resource Wales to assess the risks in relation to coal tips in Wales where there have been specific concerns raised.

Unfair Dismissal

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reverting to a one-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims.

Paul Scully: At the time of increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to two years, the policy intention was to increase business confidence in recruiting and retaining staff. The UK now has record levels of employment and the lowest rate of unemployment since 1975.

Fuel Poverty: Wirral

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of households living in fuel poverty in (a) Wallasey constituency and (b) the Wirral in each of the last 10 years.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Latest data (2017) for Wallasey constituency can be found in table 5 of the Fuel Poverty Sub-regional tables at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-data-2019. Data for the Wirral can be found in table 2 of the same set of tables. Sub-regional figures going back to 2010 can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics and a time series for England going back to 2003 can be found in table 1 of the Fuel Poverty trends tables at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-trends-2019.

Unpaid Work

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2020 to Question 1951, whether his Department's definition of unpaid working time includes unpaid work trials.

Paul Scully: The Government is clear that anyone entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage (NMW) or National Living Wage (NLW) should receive it. We are committed to cracking down on employers who fail to pay the NMW/NLW. It is important to ensure that all working time is considered for minimum wage purposes. Employers are responsible for recognising and recording all working time for their workers. However, not all time constitutes working time. Government guidance entitled Calculating the Minimum Wage provides further information. A work trial that it is for recruitment purposes and that it is reasonable and not of excessive duration would probably not constitute “work” under a worker’s contract. An unpaid trial lasting more than one day is probably illegal in all but exceptional circumstances and would therefore entitle the individual to be paid at least the minimum wage.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bahrain: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish his Department’s full evaluation of projects funded by the Conflict Stability and Security Fund in Bahrain.

James Cleverly: There are currently no projects funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in Bahrain.

Egypt: Capital Punishment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on the use of the death penalty in that country.

James Cleverly: It remains a long-standing policy of the United Kingdom to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The Government of Egypt is well aware of our position on this issue. We continue to raise human rights concerns, including on the death penalty, with the Egyptian authorities, both privately and in forums such as the UN Humans Rights Council. Most recently, on 20 January, we raised human rights with the Egyptian delegation at a senior level in the margins of the UK-Africa Investment Summit. We have also raised our concerns through our contribution to Egypt's Universal Periodic Review in November 2019. The Foreign Secretary recently raised human rights issues with his Egyptian counterpart at the UK-Africa Investment Summit.

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the UK's and (b) China's obligations under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong are fulfilled; when he plans to publish the six month report on compliance with those obligations between July 2019 and December 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: The UK takes its commitments as a co-signatory of the Joint Declaration seriously and supports their implementation through the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework.The Prime Minister wrote to President Xi Jinping on 30 September and underlined the importance of upholding the Joint Declaration.The Foreign Secretary has set out his concerns about developments in Hong Kong directly to both the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and to the Chinese Foreign Minister, State Councillor Wang Yi. Senior officials are in frequent contact with their counterparts in Hong Kong, Beijing and London. The Foreign Secretary summoned the Chinese Ambassador on 19 November.The leadership in China and Hong Kong is in no doubt about the strength of UK concern over the current situation, and our commitment to seeing the rights and freedoms provided for in the Joint Declaration upheld.The Six Monthly Report to Parliament on Hong Kong, covering the period of June-December, will be published in the Spring in line with usual practice.In the Foreword to the previous report, the Foreign Secretary has stressed that Hong Kong now needs to look ahead to the path towards de-escalation and political resolution; protester violence must stop; the police response should be proportionate; and there should be a meaningful political dialogue between all parties.We continue to believe that these are the best ways to protect the rights and freedoms set out in Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cases of British citizens detained overseas were referred to its pro bono medical panel in (a) Iran and (b) throughout the world in 2019.

Nigel Adams: Nine British nationals detained overseas were referred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office pro bono medical panel in 2019. To avoid identification of individual cases, we do not release statistics on the number of referrals by country where that number is less than five.

China: Uighurs

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of allegations that equipment sold by Hikvision has been involved in human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.

Nigel Adams: We are aware of reports linking Hikvision to the human rights situation in Xinjiang. We frequently raise our serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang with the Chinese authorities and at the UN, and will continue to do so. Through our Overseas Business Guidance we encourage any UK business involved in investing in Xinjiang to consider conducting appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to be supporting, any human rights violations or abuses.

China: Ethnic Groups

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of use of Hikvision’s high-technology surveillance on the human rights of (a) Uighurs and (b) other Muslim minorities in China.

Nigel Adams: We are aware of reports linking Hikvision to the human rights situation in Xinjiang. We frequently raise our serious concerns about the situation in Xinjiang with the Chinese authorities and at the UN, and will continue to do so. Through our Overseas Business Guidance we encourage any UK business involved in investing in Xinjiang to consider conducting appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to be supporting, any human rights violations or abuses.

Libya: Armed Conflict

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take diplomatic steps to support (a) the Libyan Government of National Accord and (b) a political solution to the ongoing conflict in that country.

James Cleverly: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Libya: Politics and Government

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on support for the UN-backed Government of National Accord in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

James Cleverly: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Libya: Politics and Government

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the progress being made on political negotiations in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

James Cleverly: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Voting Rights: EU Nationals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's policy is on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK to vote in (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national elections after the UK’s departure from the European Union; and when his Department plans to publish that policy.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department's policy is on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, to stand for election in (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national elections after the UK’s exit from the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. member to the answer which I gave to PQ 10755 on 10 February 2020, and to relevant legislation, including the Representation of the People Act 1983.

Prime Minister: Staff

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average hourly pay is of (a) White or White British and (b) black, Asian or other minority ethnic group employees at each grade in the Prime Minister's Office.

Chloe Smith: Cabinet Office staff are not required to declare their ethnic origin and therefore a complete breakdown of all staff by grade; salary and ethnicity is not held.

Unemployment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of economically inactive people in the UK are classified as (a) students, (b) unable to work due to sickness, (c) looking after homes, (d) caring for family members and (d) retired.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, what assessment she has made of the reason that people who are economically inactive and are not (a) students, (b) unable to work due to sickness, (c) looking after homes or caring for family members and (b) retired are not actively looking for work.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 121 KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to publish proposals on social care reform.

Helen Whately: Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. As the Prime Minister has said, the Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year.The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly.

Social Services: Vacancies

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Age UK briefing entitled Health and Care of Older People in England 2019, published July 2019, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the 100,000 vacancies in the social care workforce in England.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises that adult social care employers can struggle to recruit and retain the right number of staff, with the right values and skills, and that vacancy and turnover rates across the sector are high. We are working alongside stakeholders in adult social care to support a growing workforce, with the values and skills to deliver high quality, compassionate care.The Department has invested £7 million over the past two years in a national recruitment campaign designed to raise the profile of adult social care, encourage potential applicants to apply for job vacancies, and highlight opportunities for career development and progression. Through our continued funding of Skills for Care we have also provided a range of resources and practical toolkits for providers to help attract, train and retain staff.

Social Services: Older People

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Age UK's General Election Manifesto 2019, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the unmet social care needs of 1.5 million people aged over 65 in England.

Helen Whately: The Government has enshrined in legislation, through the Care Act 2014, councils’ statutory responsibility to meet eligible needs. This eliminates the postcode lottery of eligibility across England.Many people will fund their own care, which has been the case for decades. State-funded social care is available for those with the greatest needs on the lowest incomes and, at year-end 2018/19, 381,475 older people were receiving long-term support from their council, either through residential care or support in their own home.Social care is a Government priority. We have given councils access to up to £1.5 billion more dedicated funding for social care in 2020/21 to meet rising demand and further stabilise the system.Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. As the Prime Minister has said, the Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year.The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly.

Junior Doctors: Bullying and Harassment

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent guidance he has issued to NHS hospitals on the bullying and harassment of junior doctors.

Helen Whately: All National Health Service organisations should have in place a bullying and harassment policy that is easily accessible to staff – such as junior doctors - and is monitored regularly by senior managers.The NHS Social Partnership Forum, chaired by Departmental ministers, has led a collective call to action to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS. Working with NHS system leaders, NHS employers, staff and their trades unions, it encourages and supports the leadership and culture change required to eradicate bullying and harassment.A ‘new offer’ will be published later this year alongside the final NHS People Plan and will detail the support that all NHS staff can expect to receive from their employer – including how the NHS will tackle bullying and harassment.

Junior Doctors: Bullying and Harassment

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what reports his Department has received of (a) bullying and (b) harassment of junior NHS doctors working in hospitals.

Helen Whately: The 2019 NHS Staff Survey published on 18 February 2020 shows that 14.6% of medical and dental staff in the National Health Service have personally experienced an instance of bullying, harassment or abuse from a manager; 21.3% from a colleague. These figures have decreased by 1.2% and 0.3% from the 2018 NHS Staff survey, respectively. This follows work that is being done by the NHS Social Partnership Forum working with NHS system leaders, NHS employers, staff and their trade unions to support the leadership and culture change required to eradicate all forms of bullying and of harassment.However, this level of bullying and harassment is still unacceptably high. The final NHS People Plan, to be published later this year, will set out further action to tackle bullying and harassment as part of making the NHS the best place to work.

Excellence in Continence Care Board

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) names and (b) positions of the members of the Excellence in Continence Care Board; and if he will make a statement on the remit of that Board.

Helen Whately: The Chair of the Excellence in Continence Care Programme Board is Sue Doheny, Regional Chief Nurse, NHS England and NHS Improvement (South West). The board comprises representatives from the Royal College of Nursing and the NHS Supply Chain. It also contains patient advocates, relevant charitable organisations, lead nurses in the respective field and consultant urologists. We are unable to name individual board members due to data protection reasons.The remit of the board is to oversee the development of evidence-based and patient-focussed care pathways and Commissioning Framework, provide leadership and direction, raise the profile of bladder and bowel health nationally, and provide oversight of the National Bowel and Bladder Health Project.

Dementia: Research

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's priorities are for research into dementia.

Helen Whately: Improving the lives of people living with dementia, including their families and carers, is a high priority, and the Government remains strongly committed to supporting research into dementia. We will be setting out our plans for supporting people with dementia in England for 2020-2025 later this year.

Dementia: Research

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on prioritising best practice in dementia care in the allocation of dementia research funding.

Helen Whately: Under the current Challenge on Dementia 2020 strategy, the Government’s commitment to spending £300 million on dementia research between 2015 and 2020 was met a year early, with £341 million spent by March 2019 via the Departments of Health and Social Care and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This included a £15 million research initiative announced in January 2019 on dementia prevention, care and technology, co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Funding Council and National Institute for Health Research.

Blood: Contamination

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide resources to ensure that the palliative care of victims of the contaminated blood transfusions involves medical experts in the diseases contracted by those victims as a result of the contaminated transfusions.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to extend the compensation scheme for carers of victims of contaminated blood transfusions beyond widows and partners.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Since 1988, successive Governments have voluntarily provided ex-gratia financial and non-financial support for people affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through historic treatment with National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products in the 1970s and 80s. In 2017, country specific support schemes were set up in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. These four schemes are devolved, and each nation has made different choices around their offers of support over time. We are working with our partners in the devolved nations and other relevant Government departments to improve parity of support across the United Kingdom. We will consider any recommendations when the Infected Blood Inquiry reports, including any on compensation and other support.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical commissioning groups have commissioned IVF treatment in each year since 2015 to date.

Helen Whately: This information is not collected centrally.

Nurses: Recruitment

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the number of (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) full-time equivalent nurses.

Helen Whately: Individual health and care employers are responsible for determining workforce needs and agreeing working patterns locally.National action is being taken to support local decisions about staff working patterns, and the recruitment and retention of nursing staff more generally, specifically the Government’s commitment for 50,000 more nurses in the National Health Service.Further, the NHS Interim People Plan sets out an ambition to increase flexible working for staff through a combination of technology and a change in people practices, to give people greater choice over their working patterns and help them achieve a better work-life balance.

Pancreatic Cancer: Research

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding from the public purse has been allocated to research into pancreatic cancer in each of the last three years; what progress has been made on the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer; for what reasons pancreatic cancer patients in the UK have lower rates for surviving five years after diagnosis compared with other European countries; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: The Department invests £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area, is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications.Early diagnosis rates for pancreatic cancer increased by 2.9 percentage points between 2014 and 2017, from 21.0% to 23.9%, and improving early diagnosis of cancer is a top priority for the NHS. One of the core ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan is to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028 to save 55,000 lives a year. Cancer Alliances in England are using the Rapid Diagnostic Cancer model to improve the diagnostic experience for patients who are suspected of having particular cancers including pancreatic cancer.United Kingdom survival rates for cancer have never been higher and continue to improve, but there is more work to do to boost survival for all cancers. However, the rates of five year survival for pancreatic cancer are unfortunately very low everywhere. The rates in England (4%) are below the reported average in Europe (6%). The differences between countries may reflect differences in cancer biology, varying availability of diagnostic tests, the stage at diagnosis and data collection practices. Access to computed tomography scanning (the most commonly-used diagnostic test) is important which is why the Government recently announced £200 million to upgrade cancer diagnostic equipment in England.

Pancreatic Cancer: Research

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria are applied in determining the level of funding of research into pancreatic cancer relative to investment in research into other types of cancer; what assessment has been made of the prognosis for surviving pancreatic cancer relative to that for surviving other types of cancer; and what assessment he has made of whether pancreatic cancer survival rates would be improved by (a) greater public awareness of its symptoms and (b) earlier diagnosis of the disease.

Jo Churchill: The Department invests £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area, is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications.United Kingdom survival rates for cancer have never been higher and continue to improve, but there is more work to do to boost survival for all cancers. The rates of five year survival for pancreatic cancer are unfortunately very low everywhere.Improving early diagnosis of cancer is key for cancer survival, and is a priority for this Government. In October 2018, the Government announced a package of measures that will be rolled out across the country with the aim of seeing three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028. The early diagnosis ambition includes rare and less common cancers and those that are less survivable, such as pancreatic cancer. Success cannot realistically be achieved without making progress on these cancers. Early diagnosis rates for pancreatic cancer increased by 2.9 percentage points between 2014 and 2017, from 21.0% to 23.9%.NHS England is establishing Rapid Diagnostic Centres (RDCs) across the country to bring together the latest diagnostic equipment and expertise. This programme builds on the Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Centre model piloted through the Accelerate, Coordinate and Evaluate programme, which focussed on diagnosing cancers where patients often present with non-specific symptoms and may go to their general practitioner many times before being sent for appropriate tests.Cancer Alliances are using the RDC model to improve the diagnostic experience for patients who are suspected of having particular cancers including pancreatic, head and neck, and skin cancers.

NHS: Staff

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England plans to publish the NHS People Plan.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service published the interim NHS People Plan on 3 June 2019. It sets out the long-term vision and immediate actions to meet the challenges of supply, reform, culture and leadership.The final NHS People Plan will be published by the NHS in 2020 and will set out a clear framework for collective action on workforce priorities, with a focus on growing and retaining a well-skilled workforce across the whole NHS.

In Vitro Fertilisation: Research

Mrs Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to encourage research into the effect of IVF treatments on the perinatal health of babies conceived through IVF.

Helen Whately: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which has a broad portfolio of research into reproductive health, including assisted conception.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. However it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications for funding are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Speech and Language Therapy: Prescriptions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to extend prescribing rights to speech and language therapists.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 26 February 2020



There is currently no work ongoing to extend prescribing responsibilities in this area. Work to develop and consider any further detailed proposals would be taken forward in close co-operation with the full range of stakeholders, including the relevant regulatory and professional bodies.Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill currently before Parliament will give the Government powers to extend prescribing responsibilities to new professional groups where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Medical Equipment: Innovation

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a fund similar to the Innovative Medicines Fund for innovative medical (a) devices and (b) digital technologies.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department is highly invested in increasing innovation within the National Health Service, and over the last five years, national bodies including NHS England, NHS Improvement, NHS Digital and the Department have managed a series of high-profile central funding programmes designed to support the digitisation of primary and secondary healthcare services. NHSX has been formed to accelerate the adoption of digital innovation across the NHS and social care.In December 2019, we announced the Digital Aspirant Fund to support NHS providers. This fund will provide support to organisations with low levels of digitisation in order to help them reach a national standard.We are working towards a health service that supports innovators to develop safe and effective innovations that meet user needs, promotes the testing and iteration of these innovations so they can be used with confidence, and ensures the best innovations are used so that everyone can benefit.

Department of Health and Social Care: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department defines rurality.

Edward Argar: There is an official statistical rural urban classification, based on the 2011 Census, which determines settlements with populations of 10,000 or more as urban. Further details of the rural urban classification can be found at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/collections/rural-urban-classificationThe rural urban classification is intended to support statistical analysis. Other definitions of rural could be more appropriate in some policy or analytical contexts.

Dental Services: Finance

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding allocated to National Health Service dental services has been allocated to (a) general, (b) community and (c) hospital dental services in England.

Jo Churchill: The information requested is shown in the following table.National Health Service dental services2018/19 outturn£ millionsPrimary care and community dental services3,004Secondary care dental services678Source: NHS England

Dental Services: Community Care

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Community Dental Services contracts were held in England in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of community dental service practitioners in bands (a) A, (b) B and (c) C were employed on matched terms and conditions in social enterprises and community interest companies providing NHS community dental services and in (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18 and (iii) 2018-19.

Jo Churchill: The information is not available in the format requested.

Organs: Donors

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2020 to Question 8296 on  Transplant Surgery: Finance, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s modelling on the anticipated impact of that Act on the number of organs (a) donated and (b) transplanted in each of the transplant units in England.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nurses: Training

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the proposed nursing bursary will affect student loan entitlements.

Helen Whately: The non-repayable maintenance grants announced by the Government on 18 December 2019 are available to new and continuing students from September 2020.Student loans provided by Student Finance England will not be affected by these non-repayable maintenance grants and students can continue to access the student loans system in England.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was allocated to the NHS to support people with alcohol addiction problems in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2019.

Jo Churchill: Data on funding allocated to the National Health Service to support people with alcohol addiction problems is not held centrally. Treatment for alcohol addiction is funded and provided by local authorities through the provision of the Public Health Grant. The grant is ring-fenced and subject to the conditions that it is to be used exclusively for the uptake and improvement of public health services, including alcohol treatment. £16 billion was made available over the period of the last spending review (2016/20) to be spent exclusively on public health services; and an additional £3.1 billion has been made available for the period 2019/20 for the same purpose. The grant will increase in real terms in 2020/21, which will enable local authorities to continue to invest in prevention and essential frontline health services.

Eyesight: Children

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory pre-school eye tests in England.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the effect of the absence of mandatory pre-school eye tests on health inequality in the UK.

Jo Churchill: In June 2019, the United Kingdom National Screening Committee re-affirmed its recommendation that children should be offered orthoptic-led vision screening between four and five years of age. Vision defects looked for in the school age screening test includes amblyopia and refractive error. More information can be found at the following link: https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/vision-child Local authorities have responsibility for commissioning this as local screening services. Public Health England has made available guidance to support local authorities in commissioning such services. All children under the age of 16 are also entitled to free National Health Service sight tests from high street practices.

Dementia: Health Services

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 12283 on Dementia: Diagnosis, if he will make it his policy to instruct CCGs to allocate funding for dementia sufferers.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Joint Replacements

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure joint replacement surgery takes place within 18 weeks of a referral.

Edward Argar: A maximum waiting time of 18 weeks from referral to elective treatment, including for joint replacement surgery, is the existing National Health Service access standard.

Baby Care Units

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many premature babies required neonatal care for four weeks or longer in (a) 2019, (b) 2018, (c) 2017, (d) 2016 and (e) 2015.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many premature babies required neonatal care for six weeks or longer in (a) 2019, (b) 2018, (c) 2017, (d) 2016 and (e) 2015.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many premature babies required neonatal care for twelve weeks or longer in (a) 2019, (b) 2018, (c) 2017, (d) 2016 and (e) 2015.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The information requested is not collected at a national level or held centrally by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Nurses: Training

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's announcement on 18 December 2019 that funding will be allocated to the provision of grants to nursing students from September 2020, whether that funding will include compensation for students that were not eligible for an NHS bursary as a result of the removal of the NHS bursary scheme in 2017.

Helen Whately: The maintenance grants announced on 18 December 2019 are available to new and continuing students from September 2020. Students who started courses in the 2017/18 academic year and will have completed their studies will not receive backdated payments.

Care Quality Commission: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that the CQC and the Parliamentary and Heath Service Ombudsman draw up a memorandum of understanding specifying (a) roles, (b) relationships and (c) communication.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place with the Parliamentary and Heath Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The MoU sets out the framework for the working relationship between the two organisations.In addition, the CQC and the PHSO are working on a more direct means of sharing final PHSO investigation reports and are drafting an outline information sharing agreement for this purpose which will be published in due course.

NHS Trusts: Inspections

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that a duty is placed on all NHS Boards to openly (a) report the findings of external investigations into (i) clinical services, (ii) governance and (ii) other aspects of the operation of the Trust and (b) promptly notify (A) the Care Quality Commission and (B) Monitor.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Since summer 2018, as part of the Care Quality Commission’s annual Routine Provider Information Return, National Health Service trusts are asked to submit details of the commissioning and conclusion of relevant external reviews or investigations undertaken in the previous 12 months and describe key outcomes. Trusts are prompted to include actions taken resulting from coroner or ombudsman investigations and learning from external reviews of other providers.NHS England and NHS Improvement have agreed to establish an advisory function for independent reviews which they sponsor, commission or oversee. This will advise on the establishment and best practice management of these types of reviews.

Infant Mortality and Maternity Services

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to (a) draw up clear standards for incident (i) reporting and (ii) investigation in maternity services and (b) introduce mandatory (A) reporting and (B) investigation of (1) maternal deaths, (2) late and intrapartum stillbirths and (3) unexpected neonatal deaths.

Ms Nadine Dorries: In July 2019, NHS Improvement published a new NHS Patient Safety Strategy. The strategy commits the National Health Service to developing a new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), which will replace the Serious Incident Framework (published in March 2015) and support clinicians to identify insights at the point of care.In April 2018, the Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch (HSIB) began rolling out its new maternity investigation approach, which investigates cases of unexplained severe brain injury, term intrapartum stillbirths and early neonatal deaths (all cases notifiable to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists under the 'Each Baby Counts' programme) and maternal deaths in England. Since 1 April 2019 HSIB has completed its roll out of investigations to all 130 trusts with maternity services in England.

Maternity Services

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation by Dr Bill Kirkup, published in March 2015, what steps his Department has taken to review the opportunities and challenges for smaller units in promoting services.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Health Education England (HEE) working group undertook a comprehensive review of education and training issues for staff working in smaller units and rural areas and published its report in 2016.The 2019 Maternity Workforce Strategy which superseded the work of the HEE group, recommended that HEE undertake a further review to consider both the benefits and risks of rural settings.In August 2019 HEE established a Programme Board to oversee the review, agreement and delivery of the equitable distribution of post-foundation medical training posts in England.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that help is available within the community for young people whilst they wait for NHS mental health services.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government announced in August 2019 that we are investing £3.3 million in 23 local community projects across England to help prevent mental illness in children and young people aged 25 and under.The funding will enable more children and young people to access local services to support their mental health, with early intervention for those at risk of mental health problems. The projects have an emphasis on improving access to support outside of NHS services.

NHS 111: Staff

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) NHS staff and (b) contract staff are employed to deliver the NHS 111 service; and how many such staff in each of those categories have been employed to deliver that service in each calendar year since that service has been established.

Helen Whately: The Department does not hold the information requested.

NHS 111: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS 111 service is adequately prepared to deal with the potential effect of a future escalation of COVID-19 cases in the UK.

Jo Churchill: The United Kingdom is extremely well prepared for this type of outbreak – we are one of the first countries in the world to develop a test for the new virus.The National Health Service is always ready to provide world class care to patients whether they have a common illness, or an infectious disease never seen here before.A process has been worked through between NHS 111 and Public Health England to provide self-isolation advice, collect and share contact details for anyone who calls and is asymptomatic and reports returning from specific areas with ongoing transmission of COVID-19 within the previous 14 days. NHS 111 has continued to update their algorithms and processes when changes to the case definition have been made.

Department of Health and Social Care: Third Sector

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total amount of funding from the public purse given by his Department to (a) civil society and (b) campaigning bodies in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: Under transparency reporting requirements central government bodies publish all items of expenditure over £25,000 to improve the transparency of how public funds are used.The link below gives access to the Department’s published ‘transparency data’ for each of the last five years:https://data.gov.uk/dataset/0351cb08-2fcc-43df-914a-c1822d82b766/spend-over-25-000-in-the-department-of-healthThe data contains expenditure transactions with both internal and external organisations and confirms the date the transaction took place, the supplier (i.e. who the Department gave the money to), the value, and the expense type and purchase order line description which together indicate the purpose of the spend.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors have been recruited by the NHS from overseas in each last five years.

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses have been recruited from overseas in each last five years.

Helen Whately: The following tables show people with a non-United Kingdom nationality joining the National Health Service, not people who have been recruited directly from abroad.NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.The following table shows the number of doctors with a nationality other than British joining NHS trusts and CCGs as at September 2019 and at each year since 2014 (headcount). September 2014-15September 2015-16September 2016-17September 2017-18September 2018-19European Union2,2592,2622,0872,1172,088European Economic Area (EEA)4336444638Rest of World3,1613,3743,8724,6756,670Unknown7918071,143931713 The following table shows the number of nurses with a nationality other than British joining the NHS trusts and CCGs as at September 2019 and at each year since 2014 (headcount). September 2014-15September 2015-16September 2016-17September 2017-18September 2018-19EU5,8175,9412,7792,3132,328EEA2117121718Rest of World2,1612,7822,9934,3257,068Unknown1,4171,8171,1671,078733

Medical Records: Data Protection

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many health and care organisations are compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Under Information Standards Notice DCB3058, local health and adult social care organisations as Data Controllers are required to assure themselves that they are complying with the opt out requirements. Relevant organisations are required to be compliant will the National Data Opt-out by 31 March 2020. Information on which organisations are compliant will be published in due course by NHS Digital.

Healthcare Assistants: Migrant Workers

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) EU and )b) overseas nationals employed as semi-skilled ancillary staff in (a) National Health Service hospitals and (b) the private care sector as care assistants.

Helen Whately: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.The following table shows the number of support staff in Central Functions and Hotel, Property and Estates, by nationality group, in National Health Service trusts and CCGs in England, as at 31 October 2019, the latest available data (full time equivalent).This is not a measure of the number of ancillary staff employed in NHS funded services carried out in the private sector. This does not include staff involved in contracted out services.Care settingLevelEuropean UnionEuropean Economic AreaRest of WorldUnknownAll care settingsAll levels6,893336,2677,472Central functionsHealthcare Assistant---6Central functionsSupport Worker148-156186Central functionsClerical and administrative2,578252,6133,665Hotel, property and estatesClerical and administrative2231171304Hotel, property and estatesEstates (maintenance and works)3681235413Hotel, property and estatesHealthcare Assistant15-101Hotel, property and estatesSupport Worker3,56163,0832,897

Health Services: Migrant Workers

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the (a) NHS and (b) private care sector of the proposed immigration limits on unskilled and low-paid workers from (i) the EU and (ii) overseas.

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to tackle potential labour shortages as a result of the Government's proposed immigration controls.

Helen Whately: We are continually monitoring and analysing the impact on both cost and numbers of staff in the National Health Service and social care sector as a result of multiple changes including the future immigration system.The changes to the immigration system and the ending of freedom of movement will mean that social care employers will need to redouble efforts to promote jobs in social care to workers in the United Kingdom.For the NHS, the final NHS People Plan will be published by the National Health Service in early 2020 and will set out a clear framework for collective action on workforce priorities, with a focus on growing and sustaining a well-skilled workforce across the whole NHS.Alongside these plans continued effective oversea recruitment will be facilitated through an NHS Visa which will incorporate fast-track entry, dedicated support and reduced fees, to encourage increasing numbers of skilled overseas professionals to come and work in the NHS.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust: Community First Responders

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many volunteer first responders are in post with the South Western Ambulance Service HNS Foundation Trust; and what steps he is taking to recruit additional first responders in Dorset.

Helen Whately: The Department does not hold the information requested.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Ageing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect on the effectiveness of her Department of removing ageing as a specific policy area with Ministerial responsibility.

Wendy Morton: My Department recognises that older people experience a range of complex barriers and face multiple exclusions in developing countries across the globe.Baroness Sugg has direct responsibility for ageing as part of her portfolio on inclusive societies.Ageing is an important factor in DFID’s efforts to tackle extreme poverty, ensure inclusion and in our approach to ‘leave no-one behind’. This is reflected in our departmental strategy papers. Both the Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Strategic Vision for Gender Equality take a life-course approach, ensuring the delivery of transformative change for people all ages.We are also supporting governments to make vital social protection systems more inclusive of older people. In Uganda, DFID continues to build on its partnership with the Government of Uganda to deliver a Senior Citizen Grant. The grant currently supports over 168,000 older people with a cash transfer to help meet their nutritional and healthcare needs.

Developing Countries: Older People

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the needs of older people.

Wendy Morton: The UK Government recognises that older people experience a range of complex barriers in developing countries around the globe.DFID’s vision is a world where all people, in all stages of their lives, are engaged, empowered and able to exercise their rights. Ageing is an important factor in our efforts to tackle extreme poverty, ensure inclusion and in our approach to ‘leave no-one behind’. For example, DFID’s Disability Inclusion Strategy and Strategic Vision for Gender Equality take a life-course approach, ensuring the delivery of transformative change for people all ages.We are also supporting governments to make vital social protection systems more inclusive of older people. In Uganda, DFID continues to build on its partnership with the Government of Uganda to deliver a Senior Citizen Grant. The grant currently supports over 168,000 older people with a cash transfer to help meet their nutritional and healthcare needs.

Africa: Renewable Energy

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support investment in renewable energy in Africa.

James Duddridge: The government is committed to supporting renewable energy in Africa and our support is increasing.At the UK-Africa Investment Summit in January, a renewable energy package worth over £100 million was announced. This includes funding for off-grid solar projects to reach the rural poor in Africa, providing technical assistance to improve African countries’ renewable energy policies, and investing in clean energy research and innovation such as the Faraday Battery Challenge and the Ayrton Fund. The UK’s offer to support renewable energy across Africa also includes sharing our expertise in low carbon sectors and green finance.In addition, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, CDC, as well as the UK funded Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) are investing in renewable energy across Africa.

Department for Education

Schools: Standards

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve attainment in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve educational attainment in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 24 February 2020



The Department is determined to continue driving up academic standards.86% of schools are now good or outstanding, compared to 68% in 2010. Since the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure was first introduced in 2010, the proportion of pupils entering the EBacc has increased from just 22% in 2010 to 40% in 2019. These are subjects which keep pupils’ options open and provide a great basis for future study and employment. Against this background of rising standards, disadvantaged pupils are catching up with their peers. Since 2011, the attainment gap at the end of primary school has narrowed by 13% and the gap at the end of secondary school has narrowed by 9%.To continue the focus on attainment and standards we are now investing £10 million to establish 'behaviour hubs' so that schools with a track record of effectively managing pupils' behaviour can share what works with schools that need it. The first hubs are planned to launch in September 2020 and will run for an initial period of 3 years.The Department is also providing funding to ensure that all schools have the right investment to deliver an outstanding education. A total additional investment of £14 billion across three years – the largest funding boost in a decade – will allow for a cash increase of £2.6 billion to core schools funding from April 2020, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019- 20.There a number of initiatives in place to improve attainment in specific subjects in the West Midlands and Coventry. These include the establishment of teaching hubs - two English hubs and three mathematics hubs, with plans for an additional new mathematics hub which will be operational from September 2020 (focusing on Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull). In addition to these hubs, we have established two Science Learning Partnerships in the area.

Music: GCE A-level

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were entered for A-level music in (a) Sheffield City Council area, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the number of pupils who were entered for A-level music in (a) Sheffield City Council area, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each of the last 3 years. Students receiving a grade for A level Music[1],[2]Academic yearAreaSheffield local authorityYorkshire & Humber regionEngland2016-17363565,0352017-18283744,9802018-19433184,709The information for previous years is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. [1] Includes students who receive grade, which will differ slightly from initial registration in a subject. [2] Data for 2016/17 and 2017/18 is final; data for 2018/19 is revised, and subject to minor changes.

Children in Care: Merseyside

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were taken into care in (a) Merseyside, (b) the Wirral and (c) Wallasey constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Vicky Ford: The latest figures on the number of children taken into care in Merseyside metropolitan county and the Wirral local authority since 2009/10 are shown in the attached table. The department does not collect this data by parliamentary constituency area.These figures on children taken into care by individual legal status are published in the statistical releases ‘Children Looked after in England including adoptions’ at local authority and regional level in the underlying data table ‘CLA ADM’ and, prior to 2017, in table C3 of the local authority tables, which are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children. 



19764_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 53.5 KB)

Apprentices: Arts

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of organisations in the creative industries to utilise the apprenticeship levy.

Gillian Keegan: The apprenticeship levy is at the centre of our reforms to build an employer-led apprenticeship system and transform the quality of apprenticeship training. We continue to engage with employers in all sectors of the economy to help them realise the benefits of apprenticeships. In the creative sector, we work closely with industry bodies, such as the Creative Industries Council, Creative and Cultural Skills, and ScreenSkills.In response to this engagement, we introduced transfers in 2018 to offer employers greater flexibility. This gives apprenticeship levy-paying employers the freedom to transfer funds to any employer, including smaller employers in their supply chain, or Apprenticeship Training Agencies and charities. In April 2019, we increased the cap from 10% to 25% of employers’ funds that can be transferred each year. An Apprenticeship Training Agency acts as the apprentice’s employer throughout their training, allowing them to complete the 12-month minimum apprenticeship duration through a series of shorter placements with different employers.We are also working with employers and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to prioritise the development of 17 new standards in the creative sector to help address skills gaps.We recognise that some employers in the creative industries experience challenges in utilising the apprenticeship levy to support starts in their business or the wider sector. The Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are working with ScreenSkills and industry partners on an innovative film and TV pilot which will enable 20 apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and TV shows. Launched on 23 January, it will explore a new model for how apprenticeships can be used to deliver multiple placements on film and TV productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.

Apprentices: Taxation

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount of Apprenticeship Levy funding for Level 6 qualifications that has been allocated to learners who already held a Level 6 qualification in each financial year for which data is available.

Gillian Keegan: The department is not able to make an accurate estimate of the funding for level 6 qualifications which has been allocated to learners who already hold a qualification at level 6, as data currently held on the prior attainment of apprentices is incomplete.

Ministry of Justice

Reoffenders: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders in each police force area who were convicted but not sentenced to immediate custody in each year since 2010 had previously committed (a) zero, (b) one to four, (c) five to nine, (d) 10 to 15, (e) 16 to 25, (f)  26 to 50, (g) 51 to 75, (h) 76 to 100, (i) 101 to 150, (j) 151 to 200 and (k) 200 offences.

Chris Philp: The number of offenders in each police force area who were convicted but not sentenced to immediate custody in each year since 2010 had previously committed (a) zero, (b) one to four, (c) five to nine, (d) 10 to 15, (e) 16 to 25, (f) 26 to 50, (g) 51 to 75, (h) 76 to 100, (i) 101 to 150, (j) 151 to 200 and (k) 200 offences can be viewed in the attached table. Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, who take into account all circumstances of the case, including any aggravating and mitigating factors. We are clear that sentencing must match the severity of a crime.  



Table 511
(Excel SpreadSheet, 51.27 KB)

First Offenders: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) men and (b) women received an immediate custodial sentence for their first offence in (i) magistrates' courts and (ii) Crown courts in the last 12 months for which such information is available; and what those offences were for each such category.

Chris Philp: The information on what proportion of (a) men and (b) women received an immediate custodial sentence for their first offence in (i) magistrates' courts and (ii) Crown courts in the last 12 months and what those offences were for each such category can be viewed in the accompanying table.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.16 KB)

Homicide: Convictions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the total number of offenders convicted of homicide involving children were (a) men and (b) women in the last three years.

Chris Philp: Data on the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of murder up to 31 December 2018, is published and available in the “Outcomes by offence data tool” at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Detailed information on the age of the victim and broader circumstances may be held on individual court records but to identify such cases would incur disproportionate costs.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women received each sentencing outcome for each type of offence in each police force area in the most recent year for which information is available; and what the average custodial sentence length was for (i) men and (ii) women for each offence type in each police force area.

Chris Philp: Information up to December 2018 on sentencing outcomes relating to specific offences and police force area is published in the “Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool” at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2018. To obtain the information requested, in the Pivot Table Fields:To view data for the latest year, drag ‘Year of Appearance’ to the Filters field and select “2018”;To view data for males and females, drag ‘Sex’ into the Columns field; andDrag ‘Offence Group’ and ‘Police Force Area’ into the Rows field. The number of individuals who received each sentencing outcome, and the average custodial sentence length, for each offence type by police force area will then be shown in the table.

Squatting: Business Premises

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of squatting in commercial premises since the introduction of the criminal provisions contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the trends in the level of squatting in commercial premises.

Reoffenders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders released on licence following a life sentence have committed (a) homicide and (b) other offences in each of the last five years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders sentenced to life in the last five years had received one or more previous life sentences on a separate sentencing occasion.

Chris Philp: Serious further offences are very rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are charged with a serious further offence.An offender sentenced to life imprisonment is eligible for release on life licence only once he has completed the minimum term (tariff) specified by the Court at the point of sentence. It falls to the independent Parole Board to determine whether to release a life sentence prisoner who has completed his minimum term and the Board will direct release only where it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the purposes of public protection for the prisoner to remain confined. The Ministry of Justice does not keep the figures requested in relation to (b) other offences and to obtain them would incur disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Justice does capture however,the more serious further offences (SFOs) by means of the Probation SFO Review Procedures. In accordance with those Procedures, the National SFO Team in HM Prison and Probation Service is notified of an offender subject to statutory probation supervision appearing in court charged with a qualifying offence under Probation Instruction 2018 06https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2018/pi-06-2018-sfo-procedures.doc.pdf. Accordingly, there are published statistics on convictions for an SFO on the part of an offender on life licence, arising from notifications to the National SFO Team between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2018. I have provided the link below. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/serious-further-offences. We will publish SFO conviction data for 2018/19 in October 2020. The table below shows these figures broken down by homicide and other serious offences for 2015- 2018 which is the most recent available data in the last five years. Serious Further Offence (SFO) type  YearNumber of offenders on life sentence who committed homicideNumber of offenders on life sentence who committed other serious further offencesTotal2015 - 20162462016 - 20172462017 - 20185712Total91524 Data is taken from published data which captures serious further offending notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS up until 31/03/2018.Data is derived from the date of SFO notification to HMPPS. The serious further offence could have been committed prior to the timeframe of the published data.This figure only includes convictions for serious further offences by life sentence prisoners on supervision that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.The data provided are provisional figures subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.The data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where a Court has subsequently ruled that they were responsible.Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.The data for homicide would include manslaughter and other serious further offences involving death. The figures for homicide in this answer all relate to convictions for murder.  14 offenders have been sentenced to life in the last five years who had received one or more previous life sentence on a separate occasion. Section 21 of Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out the starting point for the sentencing Judge to impose a whole life tariff in cases where an offender has been previously convicted of murder.

Police Cautions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cautions were issued for indictable-only offences in each year since 2015; and to which types of offence those cautions related.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice has published information on cautions, proceedings, convictions and sentencing in England and Wales, up to December 2018. This information, relating to specific offences, can be found using the Outcomes by Offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Filter by offence type to ’01 Indictable only’. Drag ‘offence group’ into the ‘Rows’ field (beneath ‘Values’). The number of cautions issued for indictable only offences for each offence group will be shown in rows 24 to 33.

Offences against Children: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) men and (b) women convicted of sexual activity with a child received a prison sentence in each of the last five years; and what the average prison sentence was for convicted (i) men and (ii) women.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women convicted of sexual activity with a child received a (i) conditional discharge, (ii) fine, (iii) community order and (iv) suspended prison sentence in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on convictions and sentencing in England and Wales. This information, relating to specific offences, can be found using the Outcomes by Offence data tool. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx Filter by offence to include the following offences: 21.1 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - indictable only21.2 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - offender aged under 18 - triable either way21.3 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - offender aged 18 or over or age of offender unspecified - triable either way22.1 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - indictable only22.2 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - offender aged under 18 - triable either way22.3 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - offender aged 18 or over - triable either way22A.1 Causing sexual activity without consent - penetration22A.2 Causing sexual activity without consent - no penetration Add the ‘Sex’ filter to the rows field below ‘Values’ The number of males, females and defendants where sex is not known who were a) convicted, b) sentenced, and those who received a c) conditional discharge, d) fine, e) community order and f) suspended sentence will be shown in lines a) 32-34, b) 36-38, c) 44-46, d) 48-50, e) 52-54, and f) 72-74. For PQ 1221 please refer to the answer to PQ 13957.

Reoffenders: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of offenders that having committed 15 or more previous offences were not sent to prison on conviction for (a) burglary and (b) violence against the person in the latest period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: In the year ending March 2019 there were 2,352 offenders convicted of burglary and 4,343 offenders convicted of a violence against the person offence where this was the principal offence of which the offender was convicted, where the offender received a sentence other than immediate custody and had 15 or more previous convictions or cautions for individual counts of any offence.Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, who take into account all circumstances of the case, including any aggravating and mitigating factors. We are clear that sentencing must match the severity of a crime.

Family Conciliation Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to increase legal aid pay rates for family mediation services.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support small family mediation businesses.

Alex Chalk: Legal aid remains available for mediation in certain family disputes, where the parties meet the eligibility criteria. The latest published Legal Aid Statistics show that in family mediation, Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) assessments increased by 20% in the last quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year. In the Legal Support Action Plan, we committed to launching a campaign to raise awareness of the full breadth of legal support available, including legal aid. We work closely with the Family Mediation Council, and support Family Mediation through regular signposting and communications. We also attend the Family Mediation Council Standards Board which helps set the standards for mediators to ensure individuals get a quality service. We recently highlighted Family Mediation Week in January 2020 through social media channels.

Legal Representation: Death

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to support access to non-means tested legal representation in cases of state-related death.

Alex Chalk: The Government’s Review of Legal Aid for Inquests published on 7 February 2019 found that representation for bereaved families is not necessary at the vast majority of inquests because the process is designed to establish the truth and learn lessons and cannot apportion blame. The Government realises, however, that there may be some instances where legal representation is required at inquests and funding may be available through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme (ECF). The decision to provide funding under ECF is taken by the Legal Aid Agency which makes its decisions independently from political and Government influence. The Government’s Legal Support Action Plan published on 7 February 2019 following the post implementation review of LASPO, includes a commitment to simplify the ECF scheme to ensure it works as effectively as possible for those who need it. We’re also making changes to ensure there is more support for bereaved families including making improvements to guidance and advice literature to improve understanding and awareness of the availability of legal aid for inquests. The evidence that we gathered as part of our Review for Legal Aid for Inquests will also be considered as part of the Legal Aid Means Test Review, which is looking at the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with the wider criteria. This comprehensive review is due to conclude in the summer of 2020, followed by a public consultation on potential policy changes.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: USA

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when and where the first round of negotiations for the UK US free trade deal is due to take place.

Greg Hands: Details of the first round of negotiations for the UK US Free Trade Agreement will be made available to Parliament after our negotiating objectives have been published.

Trade Agreements: Negotiations

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with which countries the Government is engaged in trade talks with.

Conor Burns: I refer the hon Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston on 26 February, UIN: 18647.

Strategic Trade Advisory Group: Membership

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 11628 on Trade Agreements: Disclosure of Information, if he will publish the membership of the Strategic Trade Advisory Group.

Conor Burns: Membership of the Strategic Trade Advisory Group is published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/strategic-trade-advisory-group.

Expert Trade Advisory Groups

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade,  pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2020 to Question 11628 on Trade Agreements: Disclosure of Information, which organisations are members of the network of Expert Trade Advisory Groups.

Conor Burns: Over 250 organisations are members of the network of Expert Trade Advisory Groups. I intend to publish the names of these organisations shortly.

Strategic Trade Advisory Group

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times the Strategic Trade Advisory Group has met since its inception.

Conor Burns: The Strategic Trade Advisory Group has met three times since its inception. I have been in the Chair for two of these meetings.

Expert Trade Advisory Groups

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times the network of Expert Trade Advisory Groups has met since its establishment.

Conor Burns: In total, the network of Expert Trade Advisory Groups (17 separate groups) have met 55 times.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant the Answer of 18 February 2020 to Question 14658 on Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia, what the process is for the work to be undertaken to enable the re-taking of decisions on the correct legal basis.

Greg Hands: Progress is being made and a decision will be announced in due course.

Trade Agreements

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February to Question 15042, on what date her Department plans to publish its objectives for future free trade agreements.

Conor Burns: The Secretary of State for International Trade made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February, HCWS101, setting out the Government’s proposed approach to free trade agreements (FTAs). This set out that we will publish negotiating objectives accompanied by an initial economic assessment, as well as the Government response to the public consultation. There will be further statements made in the coming weeks, setting out our plans for FTAs with global partners.

Small Businesses: Exports

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the number of SMEs that have started exporting overseas following support through (a) the Small Deals Initiative and (b) other UK Export Finance support.

Graham Stuart: The Small Deals initiative was set up in October 2017 and supported its first transaction in August 2018. Since then it has supported a further six, with a further one anticipated during the current financial year. Of those deals, 57% have involved Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SMEs) exporters. During the last five financial years, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has supported the following total numbers of exporters: 2018/19 2622017/18 1912016/17 2212015/16 226 Consistently over 70% of businesses directly supported by UKEF are SMEs. In addition, many transactions involving larger businesses further support the UK supply chain, which includes significant numbers of SMEs.

Human Rights: Cambodia

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) human rights situation in Cambodia and (b) implications for her policies of the decision by the EU to withdraw that country's trade preferences.

Conor Burns: The Government remains concerned about the human rights situation in Cambodia and continues to use diplomatic channels to urge Cambodia to show progress. During the transition period the UK will continue to apply unilateral preferences to developing countries in accordance with the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences. At this stage, we have not taken any decision on continuing any EU suspension of Cambodia’s trade preferences at the end of the Transition Period.

Import Duties: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the WTO ruling of 2 October 2019 on countermeasures in relation to EU subsidies to Airbus, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the imposition of tariffs by the US on the level of UK exports to the US.

Greg Hands: The tariffs imposed by the US following the 2 October 2019 ruling harm businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. The extent to which these tariff costs will fall onto UK producers will vary by sector and the Department for International Trade is working closely with other departments to monitor the effect of these tariffs on exports to the US. The Government continues to lobby at the highest levels with the US Administration for the removal of the tariffs.

UK-Africa Investment Summit

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the effect of support for UK investors to win commercial deals at the UK-Africa Investment Summit on (a) the UK's emission reduction commitments, (b) the UK's priorities at COP26, (c) UK Export Finance's Equator Principles commitments and (d) regional integration and economic cooperation between African nations.

Graham Stuart: The UK-Africa Investment Summit agreed new lasting partnerships between the UK and African countries to deliver more investment, jobs and growth. This government is committed to tackling climate change and will be targeting ambitious action during our presidency of COP26 this year. The Department for International Trade will continue to promote export and investment opportunities in clean growth sectors. UK Export Finance rigorously follows the requirements of the OECD Common Approaches and Equator Principles, which set the framework for export credit agencies and international financial institutions in managing environmental, social and human rights risks.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that insulation concealed behind render in External Wall Insulation systems is correctly identified in the audit of high-rise buildings.

Christopher Pincher: Local authorities have been asked to undertake a data collection exercise on residential buildings 18 metres and over in height to identify their external wall systems – including their external facing materials and their insulation.  The responsibility for collecting and providing information for the data collection lies with local authorities and housing associations. Local authorities have powers under Section 235 of the Housing Act 2004 to require building owners to provide documentation. This may be used to require information on the external wall system of a building, which includes insulation. New burdens funding has been provided to local authorities to offer support for the completion of the External Wall Systems data collection.

Housing

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of residential buildings between 11 and 18 metres high.

Christopher Pincher: Holding answer received on 13 February 2020



The Home Office have published a recent estimate and methodology in this publication https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/831136/detailed-analysis-fires-attended-fire-rescue-england-1819-hosb1919.pdf .

Help to Buy Scheme: North East Bedfordshire

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased through the Help to Buy scheme in North East Bedfordshire constituency in each of the last six years.

Christopher Pincher: The number of homes purchased through the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in North East Bedfordshire in each of the last six years are in the table below. Data for 2019 is not included as it is not complete. YearTotal number of homes20137720142112015248201635620174522018399

Housing: Milton Keynes

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his housebuilding target is for Milton Keynes; and what the timescale is for that target to be met.

Christopher Pincher: The Government does not set targets for housebuilding. It is for local authorities to identify their housing targets, in light of national policy and guidance. In the case of Milton Keynes, this is set out in their current local plan (adopted in March 2019).The Housing Delivery Test, measures local authority performance against these locally set targets. Local authorities are rising to the challenge, and the Government publishes these results annually. The 2019 measurement shows that nearly two thirds of authorities have delivered the numbers of homes their communities need.

Building Regulations: Fires

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is his Department's policy that the revised scope of Approved Document B of the building regulations will include property protection.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his oral statement of 20 January 2020, Official Report, column 23, whether it is his Department's policy to make property protection a consideration of the fire safety Building Regulations when regulating to improve building safety.

Christopher Pincher: As identified in the call for evidence (para 15 and 16), published in December 2018, the Department intends to assess the scope of the fire safety requirements of the building regulations including the need for property protection objectives as part of the technical review of Approved Document B of the building regulations. The Department will be setting out its intention shortly.The call for evidence and a summary of the responses to the call for evidence are available at the following:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/technical-review-of-approved-document-b-of-the-building-regulations-a-call-for-evidence.

Buildings: Insulation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that cladding does not prevent leaseholders living in buildings below 18 metres in height from selling their properties.

Christopher Pincher: Government will continue to support the industry to refine the process for valuing buildings with cladding.  Building owners must be forthcoming with any information on the cladding used, responding promptly to residents and valuer enquiries.

First Time Buyers

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of first time buyers that have purchased a property through the Help to Buy scheme in each year since its inception.

Christopher Pincher: The number of first time buyers that have purchased a property through the Help to Buy : Equity Loan scheme in each year since its inception in 2013 can be seen in the table below. Data for 2019 is not included as it is not complete: YEARTOTAL201312,467201422,618201525,069201630,672201737,476201842,785

Housing Associations

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes delivered through the Homes England strategic partnership model with Housing Associations.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes.We have secured 23 strategic partnerships between Homes England and housing associations, to deliver an additional 39,431 affordable housing starts by March 2022. To date, allocations for over 40,000 new homes have been made through these partnerships. Further information may be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/shared-ownership-and-affordable-homes-programme-2016-to-2021-guidance.

Shared Ownership Schemes

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes he estimates will be sold under shared ownership schemes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022 and (d) 2023.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable homes in a wide range of tenures, including shared ownership, and has made £9bn available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes. We have committed to renewing the Affordable Homes Programme and to reforming shared ownership to make it fairer and more transparent.We do not hold estimates for the number of shared ownership homes that will be sold in future years.

Housing Associations

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to provide a government guarantee for the debt funding of housing associations.

Christopher Pincher: On 4 November 2019 the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government published an Invitation to Tender asking for bids to operate a new £3 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme. The Invitation to Tender closed on 3 February and the Department is currently reviewing bids. The scheme would be open to Private Registered Providers of affordable housing and provide guaranteed debt finance to support the delivery of new, additional affordable homes, including for rent and ownership.

Property Development: Floods

Mrs Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will commission a review of the planning permission regime for areas at risk of flooding.

Christopher Pincher: National planning policy on managing flood risk was last updated in 2018, and provides a robust framework for making decisions that take flood risk fully into account. It makes clear that inappropriate development in areas at current or future risk of flooding should be avoided and directs development towards areas at least risk. Where development is necessary in such areas, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere and be appropriately flood resistant and resilient. It is primarily the responsibility of local planning authorities to determine applications for planning permission, having weighed up all the material planning considerations – including advice received from flood risk management bodies.

Buildings: Insulation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 11605 on Buildings: Insulation, whether the Government plans to provide councils with additional support to help identify the persons responsible for individual buildings with unsafe cladding.

Christopher Pincher: Local authorities and housing associations have been asked to undertake a data collection exercise on residential buildings 18 metres and over in height to identify their external wall systems. The responsibility for collecting and providing information for the data collection lies with local authorities and housing associations.The Department published a technical note on 18 July 2019 to provide local authorities and housing associations with additional support in identifying the details of external wall systems of buildings above 18 metres. Subsequently, in September 2019 we announced the provision of £4 million new burdens funding to support local authorities with the data collection.The Department is in regular contact with local authorities and housing associations to support them as they carry out the data collection.

Buildings: Insulation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding he plans to make available to remove dangerous non-ACM cladding systems from buildings, to avoid the costs falling on leaseholders.

Christopher Pincher: The Government has taken urgent action on building safety, including committing £600 million for remediating unsafe ACM cladding on high-rise buildings in the social and private sectors. Government intervention is wholly exceptional and based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses.Residents’ safety remains this Government's utmost priority and there is no excuse for building owners not ensuring that residents are safe in their homes. Government will continue to support leaseholders and is reviewing options on how best to do so.

Government Departments: Land

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many houses have been built on land formerly part of the government estate since 2010; and what proportion of those houses are classed as affordable housing.

Christopher Pincher: New performance data on both the 2011-15 and 2015-20 Public Land for Housing programmes was published on Thursday 6 February 2020. It showed that over 51,000 homes have been delivered on public sector land sites released through both programmes. We do not hold data on what proportion of those homes built are affordable, however, the Department records the number of affordable homes that are planned. Full details are provided in the performance data release which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-land-for-housing-programme-2015-to-2020-data-release-february-2020 . Once a site has been sold by a department, the allocation of affordable housing is agreed between local authorities and developers on a site by site basis.

Affordable Housing

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the homes funded by the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016-2021 since 2016 are for (a) shared ownership and (b) rent to buy.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes in a wide range of tenures, including shared ownership.Over 82,000 new shared ownership homes have been delivered since 2010.Since 2016, over 48,000 new shared ownership and over 4,000 new intermediate rent homes, including Rent to Buy, have been delivered. Further information on this may be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply.The Government is committed to introducing a new, reformed Shared Ownership model, making buying a share of a home fairer and more transparent. This new model will be simpler to understand and will better enable shared owners to buy more of their property and eventually reach full ownership.

Towns Fund

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much in cash terms  has been spent from the Towns Fund.

Mr Simon Clarke: Holding answer received on 27 February 2020



The £3.6 billion Towns Fund will support an initial 100 Towns Deals across England. £1 billion of the Towns Fund will be made available to the Future High Streets Fund. These Funds are part of the government’s plan to level up our regions and create a more united country, one where people throughout the UK can benefit from our shared prosperity.In December we paid out £16.4 million in capacity funding to local authorities from the initial 100 towns to support the development of a Town Deal Board and Investment Plan for each of the shortlisted towns in their area.We have also to date spent £20.4 million from the Future High Street Fund on capacity funding, resourcing and to support policies that we have announced such as the High Streets Task Force. This includes spending on heritage high streets delivered through the Architectural Heritage Fund and Historic England.

Floods: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much additional funding was allocated to flood-hit areas in the UK in the six months following the 2015 Boxing Day floods.

Mr Simon Clarke: Holding answer received on 27 February 2020



Following Storms Desmond and Eva, the Government quickly identified that the immediate priority was to respond to the urgent needs of those affected and government paid out almost £300 million to help householders, communities and businesses to get back on their feet. Furthermore, government supported repairs to vital transport links, including getting the A591 in Cumbria open ahead of schedule, as well as improving flood defences and providing match funding for charity appeals.

Floods: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much additional funding has been allocated to flood-hit areas in the UK since November 2019.

Mr Simon Clarke: Holding answer received on 27 February 2020



As result of the November 2019 flooding, the Government announced the activation of the flood recovery framework to support those communities most significantly impacted in England. My Department is still assessing the full extent of the flooding and will be releasing funding to eligible local authorities shortly.Claims under the Bellwin Scheme in respect of the November flooding incidents in England are also being assessed for payment – the deadline for local authority claims was 17 February 2020.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 Janaury 2020 to Question 6180 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, whether it is the responsibility of the designated responsible person to issue an EWS1 form to leaseholders in privately-owned residential buildings in cases where that form is required as part of the valuation process.

Christopher Pincher: The EWS1 form was produced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) on behalf of industry. Government expects building owners to share all relevant information and reports about their building with leaseholders.

Social Rented Housing: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he will take to reduce the number of out-of-area placements in permitted development rights buildings in Harlow.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is clear that as far as possible local authorities should avoid placing households outside of their borough. However, where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation, on occasion, it is necessary to place households outside of the local area. This should always be a last resort. Where it does happen, the council should place the household as near as possible to the original local authority. They also have a legal duty to notify the receiving local authority of any households placed into their area.Collaboration between local authorities is key. The Government welcomes the initiative taken by the Local Government Association to bring together local authorities from London and around the country to try to address concerns about unsuitable out of area placements, including the use of blocks converted under permitted development rights.I also recognise the particular challenges that London boroughs face in securing suitable temporary accommodation, which can affect surrounding areas such as Harlow. To tackle these issues, we have invested £37.8 million into a partnership of local authorities across London who have set up Capital Letters – a not-for-profit company which will support councils to reduce the use of expensive nightly-paid temporary accommodation and help to ensure properties are allocated more locally than they are currently. In total, in 2020/2021 the Government is providing £437 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £69 million increase in funding from the previous year.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the conclusion of the public consultation on the code of practice in relation to the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.

Luke Hall: A full public consultation on the Parking Code of Practice will take place within six months, to give the parking industry, the public and other interested parties the opportunity to have a say. Further details of the consultation, including precise timeframes, will be announced in due course. We have also committed to developing the final Code this year.

Ministry of Defence

Bernard Mongan

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps are being taken to investigate Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan’s death.

Johnny Mercer: Our thoughts remain with Lance Corporal (LCpl) Bernard Mongan's family following his tragic death. There is an on-going North Yorkshire Police investigation into his death and the Coroner will hold a Pre-Inquest Hearing before scheduling a full Inquest.Within the Army, two Learning Accounts have been completed, which looked at immediate lessons to be learned, and a Service Inquiry has been convened, which will conduct a thorough internal investigation.

War Widows: War Pensions

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contributions of the Minister for Defence People and Veterans and the rt hon member for New Forest East of 30 January 2020, official report cols 1037-1044, if he will establish a task group for the restoration of pensions to war widows who have remarried or co-habited; and if he will take steps to ensure that task group considers the (a) armed forces covenant, (b) recognition of such pensions as an award of compensation for sacrifice and not a benefit, and (c) need for legal safeguards against setting precedents for claims by other groups; and if he will make a statement.

Johnny Mercer: The Government recognises the unique commitment that Service families make to our country and remains sympathetic to the circumstances of those widows who remarried and cohabited before 1 April 2015. However, the Government currently has no plans to reinstate war widows’ pensions for war widows who remarried or cohabited before the 2015 changes took effect. As the Secretary of State for Defence said to the House on 3 February 2020, we are examining alternative methods to see whether we can mitigate the impact. However, this is a complex policy area and it is taking time to carefully consider the potential options within both financial and legal constraints. This work is ongoing, and any recommendations will have to first be agreed with other Government Departments. As a Department, we make sure the Armed Forces Covenant is reflected in all our work. The War Pensions Scheme is a no-fault scheme which provides compensation for Service personnel who are disabled or die due to injury caused or made worse by service in the UK Armed Forces before 6 April 2005. There are also a range of supplementary benefits and allowances payable, including for dependants. A War Widows Pension is an example of a survivor’s benefit. The War Widows Pension is paid to assist with maintenance and is not the same as compensation for the recipient having been injured as a result of service or for the loss of a spouse.

Electric Vehicles: Armed Forces

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to allow members of the armed forces to take advantage of salary sacrifice schemes used towards the purchase of electric vehicles.

Johnny Mercer: There are currently no plans to offer members of the Armed Forces financial assistance with the purchase of any vehicle, including electric vehicles for private use, either through salary sacrifice or by any other means.

Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have been granted access to services at DMRC Stanford Hall since it opened in 2018.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to enable veterans with ongoing (a) musculoskeletal and (b) neurological rehabilitation needs to access services provided by DMRC Stanford Hall.

Johnny Mercer: Since it opened in autumn 2018, 21 veterans have received treatment at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Stanford Hall.The responsibility for veterans' healthcare in the UK rests with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), the NHS and its partners in the Devolved Administrations.DMRC Stanford Hall currently provides services to a small group of veterans in the form of the Complex Prosthetic Assessment Clinic (CPAC), which is a joint Ministry of Defence (MOD) and NHS England commissioned outpatient clinic.Work is ongoing between the MOD, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Devolved Administrations to explore high-pressure areas within the NHS that could be supported by the DMRC Stanford Hall, to determine whether and how it could benefit the veteran community.In addition to the services provided to Service personnel and veterans at the DMRC, the Government has also committed funding to the development of an NHS England led National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), with plans for the facility to be operational in 2022. The NRC will be co-located with the DMRC at the Stanford Hall site, enabling the sharing of expertise and the use of facilities available at the DMRC.

Veterans: Compensation

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for veterans that have been medically discharged from the armed forces to be informed of their compensation award.

Johnny Mercer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Fife (Douglas Chapman) on 9 January 2020 to Question 138.



138 - Veterans Compensation
(Word Document, 22.19 KB)

Armed Forces: Discharges

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will commission an independent review and audit of the medical discharge process in the armed forces.

Johnny Mercer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2019 to Question 140 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Chapman).



140 - Veterans
(Word Document, 31.88 KB)

War Widows: War Pensions

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of people who surrendered their war widow's pension on remarrying or cohabiting before before 1 April 2015.

Johnny Mercer: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Recruitment

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the career destinations were of recruits enlisted at the Army Foundation College but not completing phase two training in each year since 2015.

James Heappey: Information is not held about the future career paths of those, including those enlisted at the Army Foundation College, who do not complete phase two training and so leave the Army.

HMS Trenchant

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of extending the service life of HMS Trenchant as a result of delays in the delivery of the fourth Astute-class submarine.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the previous Minister for Defence Procurement (James Heappey) in the House of Commons on 6 February 2020 to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) in response to Question number 10351.



10351 - HMS Audacious
(Word Document, 31.73 KB)

Warships: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department plans to resume the tendering process for the fleet solid support ship contract.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the tender for the fleet solid support ship contract includes the potential cost of overseas in-service support in the event that that contract is not granted to a UK-based contractor.

Johnny Mercer: The Ministry of Defence is currently assessing the options for the Fleet Solid Support ship programme, and as part of this process will review the requirement and any procurement strategy. It is not possible to provide any further details until this work has been completed.

Warships

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many ships the Royal Navy plans to operate in the year 2023.

James Heappey: We remain committed to ensuring the Royal Navy has the ships and capabilities required to fulfil Defence commitments now and in the future.The Prime Minister has committed to undertake the deepest review of Britain's security, defence and foreign policy. This review will examine how we strengthen and prioritise our alliances, diplomacy and development and will consider all aspects of our defence and security capabilities, including our approach to procurement and maintaining our technological edge. We are considering a number of options to increase the availability of ships during this period.

Armed Forces: Middle East

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces are deployed in (a) Cyprus and (b) the eastern Mediterranean.

James Heappey: Operational demands will cause numbers to change at short notice and/or to pass through on route to other operations in the Middle East and beyond.There are around 2,150 members of the UK Armed Forces permanently assigned to Cyprus on our Sovereign Base Area. In addition, around 250 personnel are deployed in Cyprus as part of Operation TOSCA - the British contribution to the UN peacekeeping force.There are currently no UK Armed Forces personnel deployed in the eastern Mediterranean outside Cyprus.

Department for Work and Pensions

Wind Power

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the names of the training providers in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales that offer courses in (i) basic safety training and (ii) basic technical training that are required for employment in the offshore wind industry.

Mims Davies: It is a legal duty on all employers within the offshore wind industry to provide sufficient information, instruction and training to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of people in their employment and others who may be affected. It is a matter for each individual employer to decide on how that information, instruction and training is provided, commensurate to the risks. Therefore, HSE does not approve the industry training standards. HSE is aware of the Global Wind Organisation’s (GWO) training standards and that training providers are audited on a regular basis by the GWO to ensure that training is delivered to those standards. Further information can be found at:https://www.globalwindsafety.org/trainingproviders/findttraningprovider?d19e55cf_page=5.

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to enshrine the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into UK domestic law.

Justin Tomlinson: The UK is a fully committed party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which we ratified in 2009. The UK as a general principle does not incorporate international treaties into domestic law. However, the rights of disabled people under this Convention are largely reflected and given effect in existing domestic policies and legislation. The Equality Act 2010 provides, in domestic legislation, protections for people in Great Britain against discrimination, harassment or victimisation because of any of the nine protected characteristics set out in the Act – which include disability – as well as the public sector equality duty to promote equality of opportunity for all. Equivalent provisions for Northern Ireland are set out in a range of devolved legislation. In 2019 we launched a new cross-government approach to disability and we will publish a ‘National Strategy for Disabled People’ in 2020.

Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU)

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to maintain the disability rights of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights after the end of the transition period.

Justin Tomlinson: The European Charter of Fundamental Rights was not the source of fundamental rights in EU law and did not create any new rights, freedoms or principles. Rather, it reaffirms fundamental rights which already existed in EU law. The Charter will cease to have effect in UK domestic law at the end of the implementation period. Domestic law which implemented the rights and principles which underpin the Charter will be retained through the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018. All the protections covered in our domestic legislation including the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland, will continue to apply after the end of the implementation period. In addition, the protections which derive from the European Convention on Human Rights, which have been given further domestic effect by the Human Rights Act 1998, are unaffected by EU exit.

Wind Power: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive has taken since 2016 to assess the compliance of (a) basic safety training and (b) basic technical training standards required by employers in the offshore wind industry with domestic health and safety regulations.

Mims Davies: In 2012, in response to the emergence of the offshore wind industry, HSE created a dedicated team to regulate the offshore renewable energy industry. In addition to carrying out planned inspection and investigation of injuries and incidents, HSE’s dedicated team has worked with a range of stakeholders to encourage the development of good standards for health and safety. This has included working with industry bodies including the Global Wind Organisation (GWO), G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation (G+) and RenewableUK (RUK). In November 2015, HSE hosted an industry leaders’ event where a commitment was made by those organisations to further improve industry leadership, increase engagement across the supply chain, develop a common risk reduction programme for the industry and develop and deliver good practice. The industry created a steering group to ensure the effective delivery of improvement. In April 2018, HSE and the industry reviewed progress and were broadly satisfied that progress had been made with a desire to do more. Since 2012, one of HSE’s priorities has been worker competence to ensure that people work safely. Although HSE does not approve training standards, it has been involved in discussions about the GWO training standards for basic safety. HSE sees the benefit in industry minimum standards of training as it facilitates worker mobility, reduces unnecessary bureaucracy and costs without reducing health and safety standards. However, they make clear to industry that this should be supplemented with an individual training needs analysis to determine the additional training needs for specific tasks required to be carried out safely.

Wind Power: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of employees in the offshore wind industry that hold (a) basic safety training and (b) a basic technical training certification in line with the minimum safety training standards for the industry set by the Global Wind Organisation.

Mims Davies: It is a legal duty on all employers within the offshore wind industry to provide sufficient information, instruction and training to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of people in their employment and others who may be affected. It is a matter for each individual employer to decide on how that information, instruction and training is provided, commensurate with the risks. Therefore, HSE does not approve the industry training standards nor keep records of the numbers trained under any individual training scheme.At inspections and during investigations, HSE does make thorough inquiries to ensure that workers who go offshore have received basic safety training prior to going offshore and that this is refreshed on a regular basis. That basic safety training covers the following topics: Marine Safety; Work at Height and Escape and Evacuation; First Aid; Fire Awareness; and Manual Handling. In addition, HSE does make inquiries into ensuring job specific training is provided.

Wind Power: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department his made of the adequacy of health and safety training standards required by employers for (a) commercial divers, (b) seafarers and (c) technicians for employment the offshore wind industry.

Mims Davies: It is a legal duty on all employers within the offshore wind industry to provide sufficient information, instruction and training to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of people in their employment and others who may be affected. It is a matter for each individual employer to decide on how that information, instruction and training is provided, commensurate to the risks. HSE does not have a statutory responsibility to approve training courses or standards for the sector. In 2012, HSE created a dedicated team to regulate the sector and that team has conducted inspections and investigations at offshore wind farms, enforcing health and safety legislation in accordance with HSE’s policies and procedures. Where HSE has identified that a duty holder has not provided suitable information, instruction and training, then it has taken action in accordance with its Enforcement Policy Statement (https://www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/enforcepolicy.htm).

Offshore Industry: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with (a) ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport and (b) the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation on changes to the basic offshore safety induction and emergency training standard since the Civil Aviation Authority’s most recent recommendations on improving passenger safety and survivability in the helicopter transport sector of the offshore oil and gas industry.

Mims Davies: Offshore helicopter safety falls within the remit of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). There have been no recent discussions between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO) on changes to the basic offshore safety induction training (BOSIET) syllabus with respect to helicopter transport. Although HSE has no direct influence on the content of OPITO training syllabuses (it is a matter for OPITO and the offshore Oil and Gas Industry), HSE actively engaged with OPITO/Oil & Gas UK Ltd in September 2015 following the CAA’s decision to introduce the new Category A Emergency Breathing System (EBS) of a compressed-air underwater escape system for offshore helicopter transport. HSE had no direct involvement in the CAA decision. However, because this system uses compressed air as part of basic offshore survival training it is subject to the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 (DAWR). These regulations require anyone diving as part of a work activity to pass a medical carried out by an HSE approved medical Examiner. However, this medical sets an unnecessarily high standard for the type of training undertaken. HSE worked out a balance between allowing realistic OPITO training and the risk of barotrauma to participants. Consequently, in 2015 HSE issued an Exemption Certificate from DAWR to allow training “in pool” to proceed to max depth of 1.5m, provided participants had been passed fit following an examination to a set standard by a registered medical practitioner. Following further consultation with industry, a new exemption certificate was issued in April 2017. This incorporated the medical requirements of the original certificate issued in 2015 for helicopter escape training but allowed for unrestricted medical certificate of fitness for offshore work to be acceptable for shallow water training. A further exemption was issued in 2018 to allow a similar provision for the acceptability of unrestricted medical certificates of fitness to work at sea. All exemptions followed consultation with the industry and allow for the required training to be undertaken whilst still providing a level of protection to those taking part. There is an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HSE and the CAA that includes arrangements for the regulation of offshore helicopter transport. As part of this MoU, there are regular meetings held between HSE and CAA to discuss offshore helicopter safety-related issues.

Bereavement Support Payment: Cohabitation

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to implement the ruling of the Supreme Court of 30 August 2018, [2018] UKSC 48, on extending bereavement support payments to unmarried couples.

Mims Davies: Holding answer received on 26 February 2020



 We recognise that we currently have incompatible legislation on the statute books relating to Widowed Parent's Allowance. My department is currently working on possible options to remedy this. As previously stated there are complex issues we have needed to actively consider which takes time. We will report back to Parliament as soon as we have agreed approach.

Employment and Training: Lone Parents

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many lone parents with a child aged (a) three and (b) four have transferred to universal credit and become job seekers have (i) moved into work; and (ii) taken up the concession to improve their skills and train for up to a year since 1 April 2017.

Will Quince: The information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment: Aberavon

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid to personal independence payment claimants in back-dated payments in Aberavon constituency, in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested on how much has been paid to Personal Independence Payment claimants in back-dated payments is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance: Aberavon

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid in back-dated payments to employment support allowance claimants in Aberavon constituency in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested on amounts paid in back-dated payments to Employment and Support Allowance claimants is not readily available at constituency level. It would incur disproportionate cost to derive this information.

Jobcentres: Food Banks

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department’s policy for Jobcentre staff not to refer individuals to Trussell Trust foodbanks.

Will Quince: Under long-standing national guidance issued to all Jobcentres, staff can signpost benefit claimants to a local food bank provided all sources of formal support have been considered.

Housing Benefit: Shared Housing

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the trends in the rate of homelessness exemptions to the Shared Accommodation Rate for people aged between 25 to 35 years olds.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made of the trends in the rate of homelessness exemptions to the Shared Accommodation Rate for people aged between 25 to 35 years old.

Housing Benefit: Shared Housing

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons exemptions from the shared accommodation rate are not available for people aged under 25 who have experienced homelessness.

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence base was used to determine that people aged between 25 and 35 who have experienced homelessness should be eligible for an exemption from the local housing allowance shared accommodation rate and that people aged under 25 should not.

Will Quince: An exemption from the shared accommodation rate for those aged 25-34 who have spent three months or more in homeless hostel was introduced in 2012 when the age limit for the shared accommodation rate was increased from 25 to 35. The exemption addressed concerns raised by the Social Security and Advisory Committee about the impact of these changes on rough sleepers. The exemption is designed to target people receiving a sustained programme of rehabilitation rather than people who have sporadic, short term says. Housing Benefit rules should reflect the housing expectations of people of a similar age not in receipt of benefits. For other individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available. DHP funding, from 2011 over £1 billion to date and an additional £40 million for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2020/21, will enable local authorities to consider individual circumstances and provide longer-term support for more vulnerable claimants.

Housing Benefit: Shared Housing

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made has made of the potential cost to the public purse of extending the exemption from the shared accommodation rate for people aged between 25 and 35 years old who have experienced homelessness to people aged under 25 who have experienced homelessness.

Will Quince: The cost of extending the homelessness exemption from the shared accommodation rate to people aged under 25 would be £5m in 2021/22 rounded to nearest £5m.

Universal Credit

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time period was from initial claim to the first payment for universal credit in 2019.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the shortest time period was from initial claim to the first payment for universal credit in 2019.

Will Quince: Universal Credit is designed to mirror the way most people in work are paid, which is monthly. Our latest published data shows around 87% (October 2019) of new claimants are being paid in full and on time. If there are delays in making the first payment, this can be due to outstanding verification issues, such as proving bank statements or proof of rent. It can also be due to a claimant not signing their claimant commitment. For anyone waiting for their first Universal Credit payment, advances are available of the indicative monthly payment.The latest available information on Universal Credit payment timeliness is published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the longest time period was from initial claim to the first payment for universal credit in 2019.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Measuring the longest time includes complex issues such as claims with a sanction, the process of habitual residency tests, outstanding evidence etc. which could mean a minority of claims wait longer than the average and would require analysis of multiple datasets and individual claimant records.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) new claimants of personal independence payment (PIP) and (b) new claimants of PIP identifying as having a primary condition of (i) sight loss and (ii) a visual impairment did not receive an award during their initial PIP assessment but received an award at (A) mandatory reconsideration and (B) tribunal in the UK since 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: Initial decisions following a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment for Great Britain since 1st January 2018 up to 30th June 2019 are as shown in the table below. Figures are based on decisions where the primary health condition was classed as Visual Disease. This data is for new claims only; it excludes Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims that have been reassessed for PIP.  Initial decisions following a PIP assessment – new claims – initial decisions made 1st January 2018 to 30th June 2019  Visual DiseaseAll Totals%Totals%Initial decisions following PIP assessment5,230 531,000  Awarded3,01058%297,17056%Disallowed2,22042%233,83044% Of those disallowed at initial decision Award changed at Mandatory Reconsideration (MR)1005%12,3605%Award unchanged at MR, appeal lapsed402%3,8402%Award unchanged at MR, decision overturned at tribunal hearing1004%10,5805% Notes:Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.Data is for new claims only – it does not include DLA reassessment claims.Great Britain only.Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions but only the primary condition is reflected in these statistics. It is not possible to break down the condition of “visual disease” into sight loss or visual impairment from the data.A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at tribunal.Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.The Northern Irish Assembly has devolved responsibility for social security benefits. The responsibility for statistics in Northern Ireland lies with the Department for Communities: http://www.communities-ni.gov.uk

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with a primary condition of sight loss or visual impairment who were in receipt of disability living allowance have been asked to make a new claim for personal independence payment in each year since 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: Data on the medical conditions of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants who are invited to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, data on claimants who have a visual disease recorded as their primary disabling condition on either DLA or PIP and who were previously in receipt of DLA is available on Stat Xplore for those who have had a PIP assessment. The selection of a DLA reassessment to PIP is done on a random basis within specific postcodes and has no relation to the condition of the individual.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of award is for people with a visual impairment claiming personal independence payment; and how many of those claimants have had their award reviewed and renewed automatically.

Justin Tomlinson: The latest available data (to October 2019) on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) initial awards by award type and length of award can be broken down by main disabling condition and can be found in the PIP clearances table at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. PIP claimants undergoing award reviews do not have their award automatically renewed as the purpose of award review is to look at entitlement at set intervals to ensure a claimant continues to receive the correct award. The review date is selected based on the claimant's individual circumstances.

Universal Credit: Visual Impairment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what adjustments have been made to the (a) application and (b) journal process of universal credit to take account of people with (i) sight loss and (ii) visual impairment who are not able to use the default online process.

Justin Tomlinson: We want the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible to ensure that claimants receive their money at the earliest opportunity. The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants. Comprehensive support is available to claimants to use our digital service, however we recognise there will be occasions when people are unable to make or maintain their claim online, so telephone support is available. Universal Credit has been designed with a diverse range of claimants in mind, and has been reviewed in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Blind for accessibility needs. The Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters such as British Sign Language or non-spoken language. In these instances, information normally available through a claimant’s online account will be communicated in an alternative format, which is best suited to an individual’s circumstances. The initial verification can include a home visit to support a claimant with making their claim and completing any other administrative tasks required to ensure that they receive the correct payment. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have supported over 200,000 individuals through ‘Help to Claim’ since April 2019, offering tailored and practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. ‘Help to Claim’ is available online, on the phone and face-to-face in locations including Jobcentres and Citizen’s Advice Bureaux. In addition, the Department will be bringing forward a Green Paper on health and disability support in the coming months. The Green Paper will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of claimants with disabilities and health conditions now and in the future, to build a system that people trust and enables them to live independently and move into work where possible.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the process is for the provision of accessible formats to people with a visual impairment making a claim for personal independence payment; and on how many occasions have claimants with visual impairments been issued with (a) an audio description (b) Braille (c) large print, (d) Moon and (e) telephone assistance in each of the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson: Claimants can ask for a variety of alternative formats during the initial call to claim or at any time during their claim via letter, email, phone call or via the video relay service. We offer various alternative formats suitable for those with a visual impairment. These include, Large Print, Extra Large Print, Braille, Moon, Audio CD and Email for those who use specific software’s i.e Jaws or Dragon. We also offer telephone assistance and Visiting Officers to assist the customer on the PIP journey. Unfortunately, we do not have a breakdown of figures for each alternative format as there are several teams throughout PIP Regional Benefit Centres and Alternative Format Teams who record volumes of work not specific formats. To provide this information would be at a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Hon. Member for West Lancashire dated 5 November 2019 in relation to a constituent's employment and support allowance.

Mims Davies: I can only apologise to the hon. Member for the continued delay in this matter. I can assure her a substantive reply will be posted to her tomorrow.

Child Maintenance Service: Telephone Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time was that callers to the Child Maintenance Service were on hold waiting to be put through to an adviser in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.

Mims Davies: For the 2018 calendar year the average wait time was 55 seconds. For the 2019 calendar year the average wait time was 6 minutes 12 seconds. Whilst figures for 2018 look significantly lower than the 2019 wait time, this is because the methodology in place prior to July 2019 was not accurate in terms of meeting the standard ASA measurement. It did not measure the end-to-end customer experience, instead only measuring the final stage. The BT reporting methodology was amended to ensure that the report did reflect the end to end customer experience, There has also been a general increase in wait time due to the revised approach the Child Maintenance Group has adopted to customer service. Previously calls routed to the next available agent. We now only route calls to the individual caseworker or individuals with the appropriate skill sets. Whilst this can mean a potentially longer wait time, it does, however, mean the customer speaks to a person able to resolve their query at first point of contact, therefore improving the overall customer service experience.

Crowdfunding: Floods

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether crowd funded donations to people affected by flooding as a result of Storm Dennis will be treated as exempted hardship payments in relation to benefits.

Will Quince: Across the range of income-related benefits, there are provisions to disregard payments received for the express purpose of effecting essential repairs to a home damaged by flooding, to make it habitable again, and intended to be used for that purpose. Monies raised though crowd funding have no impact on contributory benefits.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been closed in each of the last 24 months for which data is available;  and what the reasons were for the closure of those claims.

Will Quince: Information surrounding Universal Credit (UC) claim closure reasons and volumes for the last 24 months of available data are shown in the attached tables. Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid and also allows UC to be adjusted each month. This means that if a claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their UC. If a claimant’s earnings are sufficient enough in an assessment period to reach and/or exceed their nil earning threshold, their UC claim will be closed. Should the claimant then choose to reclaim, a claimant only has to update or confirm their information, rather than making a full new UC claim. This process allows claimants to return quickly and easily to UC by minimising the administrative burden on them.



claim closure reasons and volumes
(Word Document, 22.35 KB)

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been (a) closed in error and (b) reopened in each of the last 24 months for which data is available.

Will Quince: The information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Industrial Health and Safety

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to monitor health and safety compliance by approved MOT centres.

Mims Davies: In Great Britain, MOT test centres are predominantly located within motor vehicle repair premises, and regulation of health and safety compliance falls to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Such premises are not a current priority for HSE’s inspection activity and HSE only inspect these businesses where there is evidence that significant risk is not being managed, for example where concerns have been raised or following an incident. HSE promotes health and safety compliance via a number of industry stakeholders and provides specific relevant information to the industry through a range of communications channels. Further information on the sector plan for health and safety in the manufacturing industry can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/sector-plans/manufacturing.pdf.

Local Housing Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentile of local rents the maximum local housing allowance rate is for each (a) home size and (b) broad rental market area.

Will Quince: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Housing Allowance: Care Leavers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of care leavers aged between 22 and 25 who are living in one bedroomed accommodation and are entitled to the shared accommodation rate of local housing allowance.

Will Quince: We do not collect data on the number of care leavers aged 22 to 25 in receipt of housing support and therefore this information is not available.

Local Housing Allowance: Care Leavers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the cost of extending the exemption from the local housing allowance shared accommodation rate to care leavers up to the age of 25.

Will Quince: The cost of extending the exemption from the local housing allowance shared accommodation rate to care leavers up to the age of 25 would be £5m in 2021/22 rounded to nearest £5m.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former Thomas Cook employees are facing deductions from payment of (a) universal credit and (b) legacy social security benefits as a result of being defined as being in a couple.

Will Quince: The data for this request is not held. The Department is offering a range of support to anyone affected by the closure of Thomas Cook, through our Rapid Response Service (RRS) and wider services. This is designed to give practical support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Local Government: Biodiversity

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of local authorities’ ability to implement the biodiversity net gain system in respect of their (a) resourcing and (b) technical staffing levels; and what plans his Department has to allocate additional funding to support local authorities to implement the biodiversity net gain system.

Rebecca Pow: The Government’s impact assessment of our biodiversity net gain policy indicates a total cost to Local Government during the two year transition period of £8.4 million and an annual cost of £8.4 million per year thereafter. Our impact assessment draws on the Government’s 2018 consultation on mandating net gain for biodiversity and subsequent engagement with individual local planning authorities and sector bodies. Based on this, we estimate that an average of 1.3 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) hours (between 1-4FTE) of specialist ecologist advice will be required in any given year per upper tier local authority to implement a mandatory biodiversity net gain system. The Government has committed to fully fund all new burdens on local authorities arising from the Environment Bill. The Government has also committed to work in partnership with Local Government on the implementation of the measures in the Bill to identify and secure the capacity and skills needed. A full impact assessment of the biodiversity net gain policy, which includes our assessment of new burdens on local authorities, has been published alongside the Bill:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839610/net-gain-ia.pdf

Coal: North West Durham

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people in (a) Weardale and (b) North West Durham constituency who are reliant on coal for fuel; what plans she has to provide financial support to people replacing coal firing systems with alternatives; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a scrappage scheme for coal-firing systems.

Victoria Prentis: The impact assessment published alongside the Government response to the consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood included an assessment of the number of people who use coal as a primary heat source across England. The impact assessment can be viewed at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/867428/burning-wood-consult-ia.pdf The proposals included in the Government response outline our intention to rollout the policy in a phased approach, this is to ensure that those reliant on coal or wood as a primary heat source have time and support they need to transition to the cleanest alternative fuel types, whilst minimising any associated costs. We do not have any plans to introduce a stove scrappage scheme.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department defines rurality.

Victoria Prentis: There is an official statistical rural urban classification, based on the 2011 Census, which determines settlements with populations of 10,000 or more as urban. Rural areas are defined as everywhere else and the classification determines rural towns (below 10,000 population); villages; and hamlets and isolated dwellings. The classification also distinguishes settlements in a sparse setting – where the surrounding area is sparsely populated. A classification of local authority districts and other larger geographies also takes account of rural hub towns – towns with populations of 10,000 to 30,000 that are likely to provide important hub functions for the rural areas surrounding them. Further details of the rural urban classification can be found at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/rural-urban-classification The rural urban classification is intended to support statistical analysis. Other definitions of rural could be more appropriate in some policy or analytical contexts.

Chemicals: Pollution Control

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restricting chemical substances that are persistent and mobile but do not meet all criteria for classification as persistent organic pollutants under the Stockholm convention.

Victoria Prentis: Chemicals with persistent and mobile properties, such as per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), are widely used in consumer and industrial products. Restrictions of these substances should be based on clearly established and agreed criteria. My department is working with regulators to improve the understanding of the emissions and risks of persistent and mobile chemicals, and how we manage these chemicals will be considered in our forthcoming Chemicals Strategy.

Electric Vehicles: Batteries

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of electric car batteries that will require disposal as the UK moves to a net zero economy; and what plans he has to ensure the safe disposal of those batteries.

Victoria Prentis: The Government has not made an estimate of the number of electric vehicle batteries in the UK that will need to be recycled in the future. In February this year the Government launched a consultation on bringing forward the end date for the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if that transition appears feasible. Presently cars and vans have an average lifespan of around 14 years before they become end-of-life vehicles. Figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that in 2019 there were new car registrations of 2,311,140 units, of which 148,997 units were for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and for light commercial vehicles total registrations of 365,778 units. Second life applications are being explored for batteries which are no longer able to perform as required in electric vehicles. An example is in energy storage solutions, which will delay the point the battery has to be recycled. Electric car batteries are classified as industrial batteries and covered under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009. This bans the disposal to landfill of such batteries and their incineration. It also establishes take-back and recycling obligations on industrial battery producers. There are also obligations under the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005. These require vehicle manufacturers and importers to establish collection networks to take back their vehicles free of charge at end-of-life. They also require vehicles to be treated at Authorised Treatment Facilities to certain depollution standards. These depollution standards include removal of the batteries at an early stage before further treatment takes place. The UK’s £246 million Faraday Battery Challenge is playing a leading role in promoting the reuse and recycling of battery components. One of the eight technical challenges set is to be able to recycle 95% of an electric vehicle battery pack by 2035. A number of live projects are exploring this area including a £10 million Faraday Institution research project. This is developing the technological, economic and policy framework that would allow high percentages of the materials in lithium-ion batteries at the end of their first life to be reused or recycled. In addition, several collaborative R&D projects are looking at reusing, remanufacturing or recycling end-of-life, automotive lithium-ion batteries.

Horses: Tagging

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s requirements are for Disposing of a dead horse on privately owned land where that horse had not been micro-chipped and its owner could not be traced.

Victoria Prentis: Dead horses should be disposed of at approved rendering or incineration facilities. Where the owner of a dead horse cannot be traced and it is on private land, responsibility for disposal lies with the land owner. In rare cases where there is no landowner, for example, on common land, the Local Authority has responsibility and Defra has at times been able to help with practical measures.

Horses: Tagging

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what regulations his Department has introduced in relation to the micro-chipping of horses; and what penalties can be levied on people that do not comply with those regulations.

Victoria Prentis: The rules relating to the microchipping of horses in England, including details of the penalties that can be applied in the event of non-compliance, are contained in The Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018 (2018 No.761) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/761/made. From 1 October this year, it will be mandatory in England, for owners to microchip horses, ponies and donkeys. Further information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/compulsory-microchipping-to-improve-horse-welfare.

Horses: Animal Welfare

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if will he bring forward legislative proposals to strengthen the protection of horses from cruel treatment.

Victoria Prentis: The Government takes animal welfare very seriously and have committed to introducing tougher sentences for animal cruelty. We are supporting the recently introduced Private Member’s Bill – the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill - which seeks to increase the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty, including cruelty against horses, from six months’ imprisonment to five years’ imprisonment. In addition, such offenders can already be banned from owning or keeping animals for as long as the court sees fit. Local authorities have powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to investigate concerns about the ill-treatment or neglect of animals, and any person or organisation, such as the RSPCA, can take forward a private prosecution under the 2006 Act.

Home Office

Police Stations: Hampshire

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations have closed in Hampshire in each year since 2010.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has he made of the effect of trends in the level of police funding on the ability of Hampshire Constabulary to keep Portsmouth Central Police Station open to the public.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does not hold information centrally on police station closures across England and Wales.

Fire and Rescue Services

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has she made of trends in the level of firefighters on the ability of the Fire Service to conduct its duties.

James Brokenshire: The Fire Inspectorate, HMICFRS, has just completed the first inspection of all fire and rescue services for over a decade, including assessing how effective each is at responding to fires and other emergencies and how well they look after their employees.Fire and rescue authorities have the resources they need to undertake their important work and it is the responsibility of fire and rescue services to ensure that they organise their resources effectively to deliver their core functions.

Fire and Rescue Services: Floods

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources from the public purse have been allocated to Fire and Rescue Services to respond to the effects of recent storms and flooding in 2020.

James Brokenshire: Overall fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.3 billion in 2019/20. Single purpose fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of 2.3% in cash terms in 2019/20 and an overall increase of 0.3% from 2015/16 to 2019/20, in addition to Home Office funding for High-Volume Pumps and training for their use as part of the New Dimensions Grant to Fire and Rescue Authorities which, together with other National Resilience capabilities, totals approximately £18m.Fire and Rescue Authorities are funded to respond to incidents, including flooding, demonstrated by the fantastic response of Fire and Rescue Services to the 2020 storms and a range of incidents in 2019 including the Wainfleet and Yorkshire floods and the Toddbrook Reservoir incident.The Home Office provides a further £9m funding to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, the Lead Authority for National Resilience, in support of the maintenance and assurance of National Resilience Capabilities, including High Volume Pumps. Local Authorities responding to flooding in England also can make an application under the Bellwin Scheme for eligible additional costs.

Hikvision

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department used in the decision to invite Hikvision to the Security and Policing Trade Fair in March 2020.

James Brokenshire: Companies register for Security and Policing exhibition and conference via the ADS website and must meet at least one of the following criteria:UK company manufacturing relevant products and equipment;UK company supplying a relevant service;International company (manufacturer and/or supplier) with registered offices in the UK;International company with an innovative product and/or service not available in the UK looking for UK representation.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to Fire and Rescue Services in (a) West Yorkshire, (b) Cumbria, (c) Lancashire, (d) Greater Manchester and (e) London in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: Spending power for West Yorkshire and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services can be found at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing#historyFire and Rescue in Cumbria, Manchester and London are part of an overall parent authority which sets the budget for the fire and rescue services in their area from their overall un-ringfenced funding. The spending power for these parent authorities can also be found in the MHCLG tables published in the link above.

Visas: Entertainers

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether musicians and artistic performers from the EU will be required to obtain a temporary worker Tier 5 creative and sporting visa after the transition period.

Kevin Foster: Currently, visiting artists, entertainers and musicians can perform at events, take part in competitions and auditions, make personal appearances and take part in promotional activities for up to 6 months without the need for formal sponsorship or a work visa. They can also receive payment for appearance at permit free festivals for up to 6 months, or for up to one month for a specific engagement, under the Visitor route.Artists wishing to come to the UK for longer-term work will need to do so under the points-based system. There will continue to be special arrangements for creative workers, which in future will encompass both EEA and non-EEA citizens.

Visas: Entertainers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether musicians and artistic performers from the EU will be required to obtain a temporary worker Tier 5 creative and sporting visa after the transition period.

Kevin Foster: Currently, visiting artists, entertainers and musicians can perform at events, take part in competitions and auditions, make personal appearances and take part in promotional activities for up to 6 months without the need for formal sponsorship or a work visa. They can also receive payment for appearance at permit free festivals for up to 6 months, or for up to one month for a specific engagement, under the Visitor route.Artists wishing to come to the UK for longer-term work will need to do so under the points-based system. There will continue to be special arrangements for creative workers, which in future will encompass both EEA and non-EEA citizens.

Asylum: LGBT People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people claimed asylum in the UK on the basis of sexual orientation in 2018; and what proportion of those applications were refused.

Chris Philp: The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum applications on the basis of sexual orientation and the initial decisions on such applications are published in the LGBT asylum data table under SOC_00 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to 2018, with the next planned update scheduled for August 2020.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.Links:Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseLGBT asylum data table:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/848102/asylum-sexual-orientation-dec-2018-tables.odsAsylum and Resettlement Detailed Datasetshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasetsResearch and statistics calendar:https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance

Asylum: LGBT People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hours of LGBT+ sensitive training were delivered to officers who interview people claiming asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation in 2019.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not record the number of hours of LGBT+ sensitive training delivered to officers who interview individuals who claim asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation. LGBT+ training is a central theme throughout the Foundation Training Programme (FTP) that all asylum Decision Makers receive.We are committed to an asylum system which is supportive and responsive to those claiming asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Asylum: LGBT People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to minimise the risk of victimisation to LGBT+ asylum seekers living in temporary accommodation.

Chris Philp: We take the welfare of all our service users in asylum accommodation very seriously.The new accommodation contracts contain several uplifts in order to safeguard the vulnerable, including LGBT+, service users. This includes specific training for all frontline provider staff and improved data sharing protocols which include the characteristics and needs of Service users at risk of with specific needs.Further, we liaise with Micro Rainbow, a charity who organises safe housing and support for LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees.

Asylum: LGBT People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the risks to LGBT+ detainees in immigration removal centres.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed LGBT+ asylum seekers were deported from the UK in each year since 2015.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people seeking asylum in the UK on the basis of sexual orientation are in immigration detention.

Chris Philp: The UK has a proud record of providing protection for asylum seekers fleeing persecution because of their sexual orientation. Each case is considered on its individual merits, with all available evidence carefully and sensitively considered in light of published country information.Decisions on claims based on sexual orientation are reviewed by a second experienced caseworker as an additional safeguard.Migrants, including asylum claimants, may be detained for immigration purposes only in accordance with Home Office detention policy, as set out in Detention general guidance and adults at risk in immigration detention. The detention decision must always be made on the basis of the individual’s particular circumstances and eligibility for detention.All immigration removal centres take a strategic approach to equality and diversity, with identification, monitoring and support for all detainees with protected characteristics. Every detainee receives an individual risk assessment at the point of initial detention which is repeated when the detainee enters the immigration removal centre. The risk assessment is kept under review.Guidance is available for Home Office and supplier staff on providing consistent standards of treatment for LGB detainees. This is provided in Detention Services Order 2/2016 ‘Lesbian, gay and bisexual detainees in the detention estate’ which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-detaineesWhere transsexual individuals are detained, Detention Services Order 11/2012 on the ‘Care and Management of Transsexual Detainees’ sets out how individuals with these particular protected characteristics should be safeguarded and treated in detention. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/caring-for-and-managing-transsexual-detaineesThe UK only ever returns those who both the Home Office and the Courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the UK.We do not currently hold the data in the format you have requested, however published data is available on the number of individuals held in immigration detention and those that are returned, including the sexuality of the number of applicants and decisions made. Details of the number of Asylum claims made is also published, the data can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2019/list-of-tables#detention-and-returnsUnder section 8 (detentions and returns) and section 10 (Asylum on the basis of sexual orientation):https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets

Asylum: LGBT People

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many LGBT+ asylum seekers have been the victim of a reported hate crime in (a) asylum accommodation and (b) immigration removal centres in each year since 2015.

Chris Philp: The Government takes the welfare and safety of those in asylum accommodation very seriously and no form of ill-treatment or discrimination is tolerated.We do not tolerate any kind of criminal activity in our accommodation or immigration removal centres, and any allegation of crime is immediately reported to the police for investigation. Reported incidents which are considered crimes are recorded by the police.Information on the number of reported hate crimes is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Visas: Entertainers

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether musicians and artistic performers from the EU will be subject to the Tier 5 (Creative and Sporting visa) temporary worker route from 1 January 2021.

Kevin Foster: Currently, visiting artists, entertainers and musicians can perform at events, take part in competitions and auditions, make personal appearances and take part in promotional activities for up to 6 months without the need for formal sponsorship or a work visa. They can also receive payment for appearance at permit free festivals for up to 6 months, or for up to one month for a specific engagement, under the Visitor route.Artists wishing to come to the UK for longer-term work will need to do so under the points-based system. There will continue to be special arrangements for creative workers, which in future will encompass both EEA and non-EEA citizens.

Durham Constabulary: Recruitment

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional officers Durham Constabulary will have at its disposal in each of the next three years.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years.In October 2019 the Home Office confirmed officer allocations for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift. Durham Constabulary has been allocated 68 officers in year one of the uplift, to be recruited by the end of March 2021. Decisions on the allocation of officers for years two and three are yet to be taken.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-upliftFrom April 2020 the Home Office will publish quarterly updates outlining the progress on delivering the police uplift.

Durham Constabulary: Finance

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding Durham Constabulary will receive from (a) central Government and (b) the local precept in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) 2020-21.

Kit Malthouse: Durham Constabulary received £88.1 million in core government funding and £35.4 million from precept in 2019-20 and will receive approximately £95.6 million in core grant funding and up to £37.6 million from precept if the full precept flexibility is leveraged by Durham Constabulary for 2020-21.Full historic figures can be found via this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/815102/police-funding-england-and-wales-2015-to-2020-hosb1019.pdfThe 2020/21 Police Settlement Factsheet can be found via this link: https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/22/factsheet-police-funding-settlement-2020-21/

Labour Mobility: Young People

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to expand the UK’s youth mobility arrangements to EU countries after the transition period.

Kevin Foster: The UK currently has youth mobility arrangements with eight countries and territories, resulting in around 20,000 young people coming to the UK each year.We remain open to concluding further youth mobility arrangements.

Immigration: Social Services

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 4 of the the Government's UK points based immigration system policy statement, whether the initiatives being brought forward for NHS workers will include care workers.

Kevin Foster: We will deliver on the people’s priorities by introducing a new NHS Visa for certain qualified health professionals, offering fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated support to come to the UK with their families.Care workers who meet the relevant criteria, including a skills and salary threshold, with a confirmed job offer working for the NHS or providing services to the NHS, will be able to benefit from this offer.Further details will be published in due course.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking sole responsibility for the National Wildlife Crime Unit; and if she will provide long-term funding for that unit.

Kit Malthouse: The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) is a UK-wide organisation which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime.Core funding of the NWCU is principally provided by the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Home Office will be providing specific funding of £136,000 to support the work of the NWCU in 2020/21. This will be in addition to the funding central Government will be providing police forces in England and Wales to tackle all types of crime, including wildlife crime.Decisions about Home Office funding and responsibility for the NWCU beyond March 2021 will be taken as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Migrant Workers: Fisheries

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to enable non-EEA fishermen to gain employment on fishing boats on the west of Scotland.

Kevin Foster: From 1 January 2021, we will introduce the UK’s points-based system.The future points-based immigration system will prioritise attracting the high-skilled workers we need to contribute to our economy, our communities and our public services.

Visas: Entertainers

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral contribution of 24 February 2020 Official Report column 35, whether it is her policy that touring (a) musicians and (b) performers from EU countries will require Tier 5 visas from January 2021.

Kevin Foster: Currently, visiting artists, entertainers and musicians can perform at events, take part in competitions and auditions, make personal appearances and take part in promotional activities for up to 6 months without the need for formal sponsorship or a work visa. They can also receive payment for appearance at permit free festivals for up to 6 months, or for up to one month for a specific engagement, under the Visitor route.Artists wishing to come to the UK for longer-term work will need to do so under the points-based system. There will continue to be special arrangements for creative workers, which in future will encompass both EEA and non-EEA citizens.

Northern Ireland Office

Borders: Northern Ireland

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Government’s unilateral declaration on consent of 19 October 2019, what steps the Government has taken to establish a democratic consent process to determine the application of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Robin Walker: The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland is underpinned by the right of Northern Ireland to withdraw its consent from the continued application of EU law. The detail of this arrangement is set out in the Government’s Unilateral Declaration of 17 October 2019. This sets out that the first consent decision will be taken in the two months before the end of the first four-year period after the end of the implementation period. If the Assembly votes by simple majority against continued alignment, then Northern Ireland’s alignment with EU law will come to an end two years later. If the Assembly votes in favour of continued alignment, then Northern Ireland’s alignment with EU law will continue. If this decision is made on the basis of a simple majority, a further consent decision will be required within four years. If the decision is made on the basis of cross-community support, a further consent process will be required within eight years. Arrangements for the implementation of this arrangement will be set out in due course.

Foyle Port

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what scoping exercises his Department has commissioned on the potential for Foyle port to become a free port.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government consultation on Freeports was launched on 10 February 2020 and runs for ten weeks. The Government wants all the nations of the UK to be able to share in the benefits of Freeports. As such, the Government is committed to working with all the Devolved Administrations to develop a Freeport policy that works for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, as well as England.

Treasury

Pensions: War Widows

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2020 to Question 13939, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies on withdrawn pensions of the potential reinstatement of pensions to war widows who lost them on remarriage or cohabitation; which groups other than war widows have had pensions withdrawn; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of restoring war widows’ pensions to war widows who divorce their subsequent spouses and then remarry them.

Steve Barclay: It has been the policy of successive Governments that changes to public service pension and compensation schemes should not be applied retrospectively where benefits have already been awarded. This principle is a foundation for keeping the schemes sustainable and given this, the Government currently has no plans to reinstate war widow(er)s pensions with retrospective effect. ‘Pensions for life’ for surviving widow(er)s and civil partners were introduced across all public service pension schemes during the late 1990s – early 2000s, with prospective effect. Existing members of pension schemes who were accruing pensions were usually given the option to remain on former schemes or move across to new schemes. However, in 2014, the Government made prospective changes to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) and War Pension Scheme (WPS). These stated that any Military Widow(er) who remarried or cohabited from 1 April 2015 onwards would retain their pension for life. This change was welcomed by campaigners, including the War Widows Association (WWA), who recognised at the time that such changes would not be applied retrospectively.

Housing: Capital Gains Tax

Steve Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue that will accrue to the public purse from ending the exemption on primary or sole residences from capital gains tax.

Jesse Norman: The estimated cost of the exemption of Capital Gains Tax on gains on the disposal of a person’s main or only residence was £26.7bn for 2017-18. Further information is provided in the official statistics on non-structural tax reliefs that are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2020 to Question 1398 on Revenue and Customs: Staff, what progress he has made on assessing deployment opportunities for staff of the HMRC Bathgate Pyramids Business Centre; and how many of those staff he now expects to redeploy to the Edinburgh Regional Centre.

Jesse Norman: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are continuing to work through and pursue redeployment options for a number of colleagues within HMRC and in other Government departments. HMRC anticipate that this will be completed by the end of March. Current indications are that more than 70% of staff in Bathgate will be redeployed in Edinburgh, or to an alternative office or to another Government Department.

Personal Income

James Wild: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse is of increasing the Minimum Income Guarantee for people receiving local authority social care other than in a care home in line with inflation in the financial year 2020-2021.

Steve Barclay: HM Treasury has not made an assessment of the cost to the public purse of this proposal. It is for Local Authorities to set Minimum Income Guarantee rates in their area, subject to nationally mandated floors. At the 2019 Spending Round we gave LAs access to up to an additional £1.5bn for social care, on top of existing grants.

Public Expenditure

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money from the public purse will be allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales under the Barnett consequentials following expenditure on High Speed Two.

Steve Barclay: The Barnett formula will be applied in the normal way on any planned changes in UK government departmental budgets, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. Full details of any Barnett consequentials for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be set out at future fiscal events and spending reviews.

Crowdfunding: Taxation

Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC will treat crowd funded payments to people affected by Storm Dennis as taxable income.

Jesse Norman: Gratuitous payments to people, made from a pot of funds raised by crowdfunding, will not be taxable income. To be gratuitous, there must be no agreement or expectation that the recipient will provide something in return.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to support people that are unable to transfer from high interest rate mortgages to more affordable mortgages.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help prevent the sale of mortgages to vulture funds.

John Glen: A mortgage prisoner is an existing borrower that cannot switch to a cheaper deal with a new lender because they don’t meet stricter borrowing criteria set by strengthened regulations post financial crisis. The Government is aware that these borrowers have been in a difficult and stressful situation. That is why we have worked closely with the FCA to implement their rule change to remove the regulatory barrier that has prevented some customers from switching. I have written to Stephen Jones, Chief Executive Officer of UK Finance to outline my expectation that as many of its members as possible should move quickly to offer new deals to borrowers that are eligible to switch under the new FCA rules. However, FCA data shows that some of these borrowers may be in problem debt and are therefore likely to exceed the risk appetite of many lenders, including those in arrears. As with any borrower in the UK that experiences problem debt, the Government and the FCA are committed to working alongside lenders to provide appropriate support for these individuals. That is why we have established a range of initiatives to support those in problem debt, including the Money and Pensions Service which has been set up by the Government to support consumers with free and impartial information for every stage of their financial lives. Treasury officials are also working on implementing Breathing Space which will give borrowers in problem debt the opportunity to get their finances back on track. We have also ensured that regulations concentrate on helping people avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders. The sale of mortgage books is a commercial decision for lenders and the Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions. I cannot comment on future UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) sales other than to say that a range of buyers, including active lenders, will be invited to participate and we will continue to require bidders to agree to our robust customer protections. In asset sales to date, we have not received a bid from an active lender that covered all of the portfolio on offer. In all sales of UKAR loans, customer treatment is a key consideration for UKAR and the government in selecting a bidder and all bidders have to agree to UKAR’s customer treatment conditions in order for their bid to be considered. This is a strict requirement, not open to negotiation, and is considered before bids are assessed on price. The purchaser is obliged to ensure the servicer of the mortgages is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). For the latest asset sale and future sales the legal title holder must also be FCA-regulated. This is a contractual requirement.

Children: Day Care

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of business rates on the ability of registered childcare providers to remain financially viable in England.

Jesse Norman: The Government appreciates that business rates can represent a high fixed cost for small businesses. Childcare providers may be eligible for Small Business Rates Relief, where the smallest businesses pay no business rates at all. All childcare providers will benefit from the change from RPI to CPI indexation of business rates. The Government will be conducting a fundamental review of business rates.

Tax Avoidance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people will be affected by the 2019 Loan Charge after the Government has implemented the recommendations of Sir Amyas Morse's review.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle people who promoted loan charge schemes.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle the ongoing promotion of payroll loan schemes.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons he did not accept the recommendation in Sir Amyas Morse's review for a maximum period for repayment of the loan charge for people on lower incomes of 10 years.

Jesse Norman: The Government and HMRC are determined to continue to tackle promoters of tax avoidance schemes. HMRC undertake a variety of activities such as changing promoter behaviour using the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS) regime; challenging promoters for failures under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime and pursuing criminal investigations and arrests where appropriate. In December 2019 the Government announced in its response to Sir Amyas Morse’s Independent Loan Charge Review further measures to tackle promoters of avoidance schemes. Further detail on these measures will be set out at the Budget. At Budget 2016 it was estimated that 50,000 individuals would be affected by the loan charge. As a result of the changes announced by the Government in December 2019, it is estimated that around 11,000 will now be taken out of scope of the loan charge altogether. In addition, individuals who have settled or are settling their tax liability with HMRC will also be out of scope of the charge. There is not yet a firm estimate of the number who will choose to settle and so be out of scope of the loan charge. The Government accepted all but one of the recommendations of the Independent Review. The recommendation to introduce a write-off of tax due on the loan charge after 10 years of a time to pay arrangement, was not accepted. This would treat tax avoiders more favourably than other individuals with HMRC debts (including tax credit claimants), would reduce taxpayers’ incentive to pay off the debt, and would have unwelcome wider impacts that change how HMRC and those in debt interact. A copy of the Government response can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/854490/20191219_Government_response.pdf

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 amended by the Enterprise Act 2016, what estimate he has made of the cost to the pubic purse in each year of the delay in the implementation of the £95,000 cap on public sector exit payments; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Barclay: The annual Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) publications contain the cost of exit packages made by public sector employers in scope of WGA for the relevant financial year. The Government legislated for a £95,000 cap on exit payments in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 as amended by the Enterprise Act 2016. The combined total cost of exit payments over £100,000 in financial years since then (2016/17 and 2017/18) is £0.4 billion. The exit payment cap will reduce this amount by setting a limit of £95,000 on payments. Information on the 2018/19 financial year is not yet available. HM Treasury consulted on regulations implementing the £95,000 cap last year. The Government intends to publish its response to the consultation by Summer and the regulations will be laid before Parliament this year.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Arts Council England: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many organisations in (a) York and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber have received funding from Arts Council England in each year since 2015-16.

Caroline Dinenage: Funding awarded to arts organisations and individuals in (a) York and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber from Arts Council England since 2015-16 is as follows: (a) York 2015/16 - 262016/17 - 252017/18 - 242018/19 - 29 (b) Yorkshire and the Humber 2015/16 - 4482016/17 - 4622017/18 - 4052018/19 - 476 Note that some organisations may receive funding under different names - for example, they may be part of a larger consortium or local council. These figures could therefore include duplicates, and may be slightly inflated.

Internet: Safety

Darren Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make the proposed Online Harms Bill subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Caroline Dinenage: We will announce our intentions for the legislative process shortly.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Written Questions

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to Answer Named Day Question 11504 on Loneliness tabled by the Hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South on 3 February 2020.

Oliver Dowden: I answered the PQ in question on 20 February 2020.

Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to meet with representatives of the Hacked Off group on legislative proposals to independently regulate newspapers (a) print and (b) online media.

Mr John Whittingdale: The Government is committed to a free and independent media. DCMS ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of stakeholders to discuss a range of issues, and will consider any proposals put forward with regard to regulation of print and online media.

Television: Licensing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's policy is on the decriminalisation of TV licence fee evasion.

Mr John Whittingdale: On 5 February, the Government announced an 8 week consultation on whether to proceed with the decriminalisation of TV licence evasion by replacing the criminal sanction with an alternative civil enforcement scheme. The Government believes that it is right to look again at whether the criminal sanction remains appropriate for TV licence fee evasion, given ongoing concerns about whether the criminal sanction is unfair and disproportionate. Following careful consideration of the responses, the Government expects to publish a response by summer 2020.

Sport England: Finance

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to undertake a review of the funding allocated to Sport England.

Nigel Huddleston: In 2020 a full Spending Review will be held, reviewing public spending in the round and setting multi-year budgets. This will include individual government departments and arm's length bodies such as Sport England.

Television: Licensing

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of the BBC on the future of the licence fee; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Whittingdale: The Secretary of State for DCMS recently met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC to discuss a range of matters relating to the BBC. The government has committed to maintain the licence fee funding model for the duration of this 11 year Charter period, until 2027. The current licence fee settlement is agreed until April 2022. This includes the licence fee rising by inflation each year. Negotiations for the next licence fee settlement period, from April 2022, will take place in due course. The government is committed to ensuring that the BBC and all public service broadcasters adapt to a fast changing market, and keeping them at the heart of our world class TV sector. Ahead of the next Charter Review process, the Government will undertake a detailed look at the future of the TV licence model itself. And we have recently launched a consultation on whether TV licence evasion should be decriminalised. We believe that it is right to look again at whether the criminal sanction remains appropriate for TV licence fee evasion given ongoing concerns about whether the criminal sanction is unfair and disproportionate.

Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2020 to Question 9674 on Digital Technology, whether the Government’s target for digital exclusion target is zero per cent.

Caroline Dinenage: There is currently no percentage target on digital exclusion. However, as per the Digital Strategy, this Government is actively committed to tackling digital exclusion and ensuring that everyone can increase their digital capability to make the most of the digital world. From August of this year, the new Digital Entitlement will allow adults with no or low digital skills to undertake new digital qualifications free of charge. Community-based programmes like those based across the Libraries network are also vital in supporting those digitally excluded. For example, the Future Digital Inclusion programme, funded by the Department for Education and delivered by the Good Things Foundation, has supported 1.3m people with their Essential Digital Skills to date. Government will always offer support to those who need it to use digital by default public services, be it over the phone, face to face, or via webchat. We call this ‘assisted digital support’, and it is a requirement of the service standard, which all government services must meet if they are to go onto GOV.UK.